Director of the Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Department of Microbial Biochemistry and Genomics, Clemente Estable Biological Research Institute, Montevideo, Uruguay. Member of the Board of Directors and head of the Quality Committee with Gender Equity. She completed her PhD in Chemistry, University of the Republic, Uruguay (2001). She has carried out research stays at the University of Ghent (Belgium), Michigan State University (USA) and INRA (France). She specializes in Microbiology of waste recovery systems (hydrogen, methane, electricity production). She is an expert in applied molecular biology tools to understand the ecology of wastewater treatment systems. She has participated in 78 publications in collaboration with researchers from different parts of the world. She is a member of the Latin American Biohydrogen Network and of the Microbial Ecology and Water Engineering Specialist Groups of the International Water Association.