Dr Yñiguez is a marine biologist and ecological modeler who graduated from the Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Florida, USA in 2007. She was on a Fulbright Scholarship and a Maytag Fellowship during her Ph.D. at Miami. Her general research interest lies in population and ecosystem dynamics, and capturing these dynamics in models particularly to link individual or lower level characteristics to higher level properties of the system. She is interested in applying these models for scenario-testing and management issues. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Marine Science Institute (MSI), University of the Philippines and is heading projects on developing early-warning systems for harmful algal blooms in the Philippines, and modeling the linkages between fisheries and primary production. She is also building up the technical infrastructure and capability for the application of various optical/automated techniques in biological oceanography in the Philippines. Aletta is also concerned with promoting awareness of the marine sciences from high school students to educators in the Philippines.