Mario Aguilera is director of communications for UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences, a position he has held since 2017. His responsibilities include developing and coordinating communication strategies with leadership to help achieve divisional and campus goals and publicizing research and other features through news releases, articles, interviews, videos and social media. Aguilera also serves as co-leader of the campus’ Research Communications Program, which trains scientists to clearly and effectively communicate their research to public audiences. He joined UC San Diego in 1997 as a public information officer/science writer and worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography until 2017. Prior to Scripps, Aguilera worked as a freelance journalist and reporter with the North County Times, San Diego Daily Transcript and The Log newspapers.