Frecia Pinguil

Laboratory Assistant

Frecia Pinguil started as a volunteer with FCD in 2022 helping with bird nest monitoring and searches for natural enemies of Philornis downsi on mainland Ecuador. She also participated as an assistant in the biological control lab run by ESPOL-CDF-University of Minnesota. In 2022, she graduated from the University of Guayaquil as a biologist.

Since then, she has been working as a laboratory assistant in the biological control lab where she is responsible for rearing parasitoid wasps and evaluating their host range to determine if they are specialists of Philornis downsi. Frecia also continues to help monitor nests during the bird breeding season.