Maritza Castro

Maritza Castro Contreras is a Marine Biologist from the Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile (FCM-UCN) and completed her undergraduate thesis with the Center for Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Islands and Sala de Colección Biologicas (SCBUCN). Her research focuses on the ecology and conservation of sea pens from the seamounts of the Southeast Pacific and she hopes to continue expanding the range of study and information available, at the taxonomic, molecular and ecological level, of the sea pens present in Chile. 

Maritza completed an internship at a sea turtle rehabilitation center, called “Karumbé”, located in La Coronilla, Uruguay. There she performed field work and treatments for sea turtles that entered the center. She has participated in four expeditions aboard R/V Falkor (too) in 2024, and #ChileMargin2024 will be the first one she assists as a marine biologist. She is very happy and excited to collaborate again on an expedition with Schmidt Ocean Institute.

Cruises:

• Canyons, Vents, and Seeps of the Chile Margin
• High Seas and Seamounts of the Nazca Ridge
• Unexplored Seamounts of the Salas y Gómez Ridge
• Seamounts of the Southeast Pacific