Mariela earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from Endicott College in 2015 and a master’s degree in marine biodiversity and conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2021. She grew up by the ocean, and has been involved in beach clean ups, brigades to protect turtles, surfing, and scuba diving since she was young. Mariela has lived in Taiwan where she interned at a firm financing a solar power plant, and in Mexico where she worked as a financial analyst for HSBC Bank. During her graduate studies, Mariela conducted research alongside Dr. Octavio Aburto analyzing the commercial sardine fishery’s profitability in Mexico.
Through her fellowship at the Port of San Diego, Mariela will support the aquaculture and blue technology programs in helping to facilitate sustainable and innovative projects through project planning, grant assistance, and policy development. Her goal is to consult and finance marine conservation initiatives by finding sustainability while promoting profitability.
