Adriana Aquino

Dr. Adriana Aquino is Science Content Specialist in the Division of Education at the American Museum of Natural History, where she develops scientific content for professional development programs and publications for educators, consultations, conferences, exhibits, and K-12 students. She also teaches graduate courses for educators through partnerships between the Museum and the City University of New York (Brooklyn and Lehman Colleges), Columbia University Teacher’s College, and the Bank Street School of Education. The topics she covers include fish diversity, teaching science in informal settings such as museums, and the nature of science. Adriana is also a Research Associate in the Museum’s Department of Ichthyology.

Adriana’s scientific work has focused on the systematics of armored catfishes, using characteristics such as bones and nerves to reconstruct evolutionary relationships among fish species. 

Born in Buenos Aires, Adriana moved with her family to Tucumán, in northern Argentina, when she was six. In middle school, after learning about plate tectonics and how the ocean floor forms at the mid-Atlantic ridge, she decided to become a marine scientist. 

After high school, she got a Licenciatura in Zoology, writing her thesis on what Oligosarcus, a freshwater fish living in a reservoir, ate. It was a transforming experience for Adriana. She had to decide how and what to sample, what questions to ask, and which variables to consider. Over a two-year period, she traveled to the reservoir every two months to collect specimens and data. She’ll never forget sitting in a little boat under the stars on frozen nights. Back in the lab, she processed the results of her fieldwork, analyzing hundreds of fish stomachs and running a statistical analysis on her data. Adriana learned that these fishes ate anything available to them: insects, plants, plankton, and other fishes. 

Adriana earned her Ph.D. at the University of La Plata with a thesis on the systematics of Loricariidae, a group of South American armored catfishes. After working as a postdoctoral researcher and teaching assistant in the same department, she accepted a second postdoctoral position, this one with Dr. Scott Schaefer, a specialist in catfishes at the American Museum of Natural History. Next, she took on her current position as science content specialist in the Division of Education. 

Adriana’s goal is to enhance the connection between scientists and science teachers, a task she greatly enjoys. Through activities that range from chatting with kindergarten classes to teaching graduate students about the philosophy of science and teaching teachers about the challenge of science communication, Adriana is committed to helping people appreciate nature through science.