Aranza Gómez

Aranza Gómez is a marine biologist with expertise in wildlife health, behavior, and conservation. Aranza earned her Bachelor’s and professional degree in Marine Biology from Valparaiso University, Chile. She has extensive field research experience working in wildlife health projects in Chile, South Africa and North America. Aranza’s research has involved significant fieldwork in Guafo Island, Chilean Patagonia, where she participated in a long-term study on the foraging ecology, behavior, and health of South American fur seals. Over the course of more than four years, she worked closely with a diverse team of researchers and volunteers, contributing to the capture, sampling, and behavioral observation of marine mammals. Her work included developing protocols to monitor maternal behavior and interspecies aggression, as well as performing laboratory analyses on blood and fecal samples to assess health and parasitic infections in fur seals.

In addition to her field research, Aranza has gained valuable experience at the University of Guelph, Wild Immunology Laboratory, where she assisted in processing biological samples and performing immunological assays. She has contributed to research on marine mammal immunity and has collaborated on several studies examining the ecological and evolutionary impacts of parasitism in marine species.