Javier Jomar García-Colón is a Boricua PhD candidate in Anthropological Archaeology at the University of California, San Diego.  

His current dissertation focuses on reconstructing long-term ecological changes in Guayanilla Bay, Puerto Rico, through paleoenvironmental reconstruction methods such as pollen analysis, sedimentology and historical ecology.  

Javier is deeply invested in making science more accessible and in amplifying local and marginalized voices in climate discourse.  

In collaboration with Caribbean-based institutions and communities, their projects are intended to center land-based knowledge and historical memory as tools for ecological-community restoration. 

Madeline Wong is a fourth-year undergraduate studying Anthropology (Archaeology Concentration) and History at the University of California, San Diego. She volunteers with the Human Ecology Lab under Professor Isabel Rivera-Collazo and assists with research into the pre-European human paleoecology of the Archipelago of Puerto Rico utilizing geoarchaeology techniques. Madeline is currently researching the use of shellfish for food by historical societies in Puerto Rico under Professor Nayeli Jimenez Caño. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school and continue researching historical foodways and paleoenvironments using archaeology. 

D’Angele Symonds is a final-year student at Keele University in the United Kingdom, where she studies Geology and Physical Geography. In 2021, she participated in the Youth Climate Summit (YCS) and was elected to serve on its conservation committee. Her dedication to environmental advocacy earned her the title of Youth Climate Activist in 2022. Most recently, D’Angele has been conducting research on coastal regression in Bermuda, exploring mitigation strategies to reduce its impact. She plans to continue her academic journey with a master’s degree in Engineering Geology, aspiring to work alongside others who share her passion for protecting and preserving the natural environ

Matthew Nagel is a recent graduate from University College London, having completed a Master’s in Cell and Gene Therapy and a Bacherlor’s in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 

His academic journey and early career have focused on the intersection between the natural world and human health, driven by a love for the Ocean and the belief that the solutions to our greatest problems can be found through a better understanding the world around us.  

He has gained a wide variety of work experience in industry, education and academia involving the life sciences, such as interning at Waterstart Bermuda, the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, and, most recently, being selected to represent Bermuda at the UN Ocean Conference in Nice through the Green Overseas Program, funded by the EU.