Christina De Jesús Villanueva, Ph.D
Christina N. De Jesús Villanueva
Bienvenidxs
I'm Dr. Christina N. De Jesús Villanueva
(also known as the Iguana girl)
I'm a scientist, communicator and natural resource manager in Puerto Rico. I am passionate about conservation, biodiversity, and finding solutions to environmental problems. I work to balance the needs of people and nature in addressing resource management challenges.
I have a combined ten years of experience in academia and government. I'm excited to build strong ties between sectors through my community building skills, critical thinking and technical expertise.
Thank you for taking a look at my site, reach out to work together, chat about invasive species or conservation practice. ( Other languages welcome! Hablo Español, een klein beetje Nederlands, e um pouco de Portugues).
Professional conservation experience
I bring my experience in customer service, academic research and in government together to develop conservation solutions.
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2022 - Present USDA Forest Service Forest Health Program Manager for the U.S Caribbean
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I led the development of a multisector conservation community. I brought together over a dozen existing NGOs, local governmental officials, academics and federal governmental representative in developing forest health monitoring practices.
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I identified key stakeholders in the U.S Virgin Islands, proposed and the led a new initiative to protect palm biodiversity.
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2020 - 2022 USDA Forest Service Natural Resource Specialist for the Urban and Community Forestry Program and Private forest stewardship
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Increased access for farmers, private land owners and urban community members to grants and funding opportunities.
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Improved relationships between Spanish speaking communities and the U.S Forest Service
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2013 - 2022 Graduate researcher in the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras and the University of Rhode Island
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Designed research projects in Ecology, Conservation Genetics, Agricultural Pest Management and Human Wildlife interactions and invasive species.
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Secured independent funding from governmental, philanthropic and private business to lead research projects while creating paid mentoring opportunities for undergraduate students.
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Please see my Curriculum Vitae for a full rundown of what I have done.
Scientific publications
My strongest skill is my writing (Though I make mean loaf of bread too). I'm most energized by work centered on addressing conservation issues. Practical, applied and transformative research, that's what I seek to dedicate my research time to. Here are two publications I want to spotlight, though I'm proud of all of them (even the ones in the works).
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2024 De Jesús Villanueva, C. N., Massanet Prado, G. P., Van Belleghem, S. M., Gould, W., & Kolbe, J. J. Experimental evidence of negative agricultural impacts and effectiveness of mitigation strategies of invasive green iguanas (Iguana iguana) in Puerto Rico. NeoBiota, 96, 49-66. PDF
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2021 De Jesús Villanueva, C.N., Falcón, W., Velez-Zuazo, X. et al. Origin of the green iguana (Iguana iguana) invasion in the greater Caribbean Region and Fiji. Biological Invasions (2021). link
Thank you to all the organizations that fund my work.
