Mara is a third-year graduate student in the Division of Nutritional Sciences. She received her B.S. in Human Nutrition from the University of Sinaloa (Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa) and her M.S. in Food Development at the University of Barcelona (Universidad de Barcelona) in Spain. She was awarded a Graduate Fellowship from Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). Currently, she is the lead in The Walnut Study. This complete feeding intervention aims to investigate the effects of walnut consumption on the gut microbiome and metabolic health in a population with obesity.