I am an interdisciplinary scholar of science and colonialism in the early modern world. My research and writing focus on commodity and knowledge production in Indigenous Mesoamerica and the Spanish Atlantic, as well as their unexpected itineraries outside these geographies. Originally trained as a biologist and historian of science in Mexico (B.Sc. Biology, UNAM), I explore how humans have transformed the natural world into distinct visual and material cultures. As an educator and historian of Latin America (Ph.D. candidate, UT-Austin), my teaching and public scholarship challenge entrenched assumptions about the Global South by bringing to life stories about people, knowledge, and nature.

I am currently writing about cochineal, a highly prized red dye and a major export in Colonial and Early Independent Mexico. Often understood as a curious parasitic insect dye, my work focuses on the social, ecological, and political layers that made these insects a treasured commodity.

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