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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. 

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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. 

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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).

  • LinkedIn

Professional conservation experience 

I bring my experience in customer service, academic research and in government together to develop conservation solutions. 

  • 2022 - Present USDA Forest Service Forest Health Program Manager for the U.S Caribbean 

    • 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.  ​

    • I identified key stakeholders in the U.S Virgin Islands, proposed and the led a new initiative to protect palm biodiversity.

  • 2020 - 2022 USDA Forest Service Natural Resource Specialist for the Urban and Community Forestry Program and Private forest stewardship​

    • Increased access for farmers, private land owners and urban community members to grants and funding opportunities. ​

    • Improved relationships between Spanish speaking communities and the U.S Forest Service

  • 2013 - 2022 Graduate researcher in the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras and the University of Rhode Island​

    • Designed research projects in Ecology, Conservation Genetics, Agricultural Pest Management and Human Wildlife interactions and invasive species.

    • Secured independent funding from governmental, philanthropic and private business to lead research projects while creating paid mentoring opportunities for undergraduate students.​

Please see my Curriculum Vitae for a full rundown of what I have done. 

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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

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Thank you to all the organizations that fund my work.

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©2025 by Christina De Jesús Villanueva

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