Mercedes joined the WIDSTT team as a mentor in 2022 and has been involved with the organization ever since. She was a team leader for the WIDS Datathon in 2024 and also in 2023 when her team placed third on the national leaderboard. She has also been a speaker at the WIDSTT Annual Fireside Chat.
Mercedes graduated with an MSc in Data Science in 2024. She also holds a BSc. in Economics and Psychology from the University of South Florida and an MSc. in Psychology from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. She has conducted research in the areas of executive function and self-control, refugee integration, child maltreatment, and education. Currently, she works as an Educational Research Officer at the Ministry of Education where she analyzes student performance data and conducts research to identify factors contributing to student success. Her research interests include the application of machine learning models to predict student success and the application of data science to social development in general.