I am a biology PhD student in the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior (EEB) sub program and my research focuses on the intersection of biodiversity in human altered landscapes. My work is centered on tracing the introduction of birds suite of closely related African finches – to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. The CLACLS travel fellowship allowed me to travel to the southwest corner of Puerto Rico to collect specimens in the vicinity of Lajas and Cabo Rojo. I primarily conducted my fieldwork on the site of and adjacent to the Cabo Rojo and Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge. I brought these specimens back to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where they will be available for other researches to study in the future as well as form the basis for my lab work.