Laura, a researcher from the University of Oviedo and the Marine Observatory of Asturias, is deeply in love with the sea. Although she was born in the Mediterranean, her passion for the oceans took her to study, sail and dive with sharks, whales, sea turtles and all kind of marine species in waters from the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. She went to Asturias to do a Marine Biodiversity and Conservation international master and four years later, she got the extraordinary adware from the University of Oviedo for her Ph. D. thesis in marine conservation. Nowadays, she works in several projects about biosecurity, invasive species detection and marine litter, employing pioneer genetic techniques like environmental DNA.

Laura has lived in such impressive places as Seychelles Islands, South Africa, Patagonia or Polynesia. However, when she arrived to the Cantabric coast, she decided that Salinas, known as the city of surf, would be her home. There, she shares her scientific knowledge as well as her passion for the sea with citizens of all ages, from children to grandparents. She created the environment surveillance citizen network “Sea-watch Surfers”. She collaborates with local surf schools in marine science dissemination. Furthermore, she and her colleagues organize the Salinas surf festival called “Surf Music and Friends” where she also coordinates the “Aula del Mar” a place for marine conservation and environmental education.