Carmen is an Associate Professor at the University of Cadiz where she investigates the sources, pathways, and environmental impacts of plastic pollution in marine ecosystems, contributing to science-based decision-making and environmental policy. Protecting the marine environment has been both her personal commitment and professional mission. Her passion led her to study Marine Sciences in Cádiz (Spain) to continue with a doctorate specialized in marine pollution and ecotoxicology that allowed her to live in Italy, the United Kingdom and Portugal. She spent several years in Paris and Uruguay working as a consultant at UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, where she was closely involved in the coordination of an Integrated Coastal Area Management project on indicators in Latin America and other UN initiatives. Afterwards, she spent several years in Canada, where she worked implementing the PollutionTracker Project, a monitoring program in the West Coast of Canada to assess the presence of contaminants in sediment and their effects on marine organisms.
