I am from Chile. I was born in Valparaíso, overlooking the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean. But, I grew up in the colonial city of La Serena (founded in 1544), known for the beauty of its beaches and the peaceful Elqui Valley, birth place of Gabriela Mistral (Nobel Prize in Literature, 1945).
The area where La Serena is located is called "Norte Chico" , or Little North. "El Norte Chico" is known for the clearness of the sky, that makes it the site of three important astronomical observatories in the southern hemisphere: Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, European Southern Observatory, and Las Campanas Observatory. You can guess why I grew up interested in Astronomy ...
I got a Bachelor degree in Physics (1991) and a Master degree in Astronomy (1994) at the Department of Astronomy of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, of the University of Chile. I finished my Ph.D. degree in 2000 at the Department of Astronomy of The Ohio State University located in Columbus, Ohio. Currently I am in a Staff Scientist position at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
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Updated: Oct, 2007
