Dr. Rodriguez studied theoretical space plasmas, specifically magnetic reconnection as her Ph.D. research topics at the University of Iowa and subsequently joined NASAʼs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt MD as a research engineer. She worked at the Detector System Branch on infrared detector characterization, followed by a faculty position at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Rodriguez joined the physics faculty at Grinnell College in 2018 and has spent much time teaching physics and developing undergraduate courses/labs in astrophysics. Dr. Rodriguez's current research interests focus on blackhole thermodynamics, numerical techniques and the implementation/optimization of computational tools in theoretical astrophysics.