Valeria Hernandez Talavera

Valeria Hernández Talavera is an environmental scientist whose work integrates environmental toxicology, genomics, community-engaged research, and environmental justice. She is completing her Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where her dissertation focuses on developing a genomic-based environmental health assessment of legacy military contamination in Vieques, Puerto Rico.
Her research combines environmental chemistry, sediment toxicity testing, transcriptomics, and microbial community analyses to understand better the ecological and potential human health impacts of environmental contamination. Beyond the laboratory, Valeria is committed to making environmental research accessible and responsive to the communities it serves through community-based participatory research, bilingual science communication, citizen science, and collaboration with community stakeholders.
She has also worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 on water quality and environmental monitoring and has extensive experience in STEM education, mentorship, and community engagement. Her long-term goal is to bridge genomic and environmental health research with community knowledge and decision-making to support environmental justice, data transparency, and healthier communities.