Margarita is the Lorenzo L. Langstroth Early Career Professor and Assistant Professor of Entomology at Penn State University. She is also an extension specialist in pollinator health for Penn State Extension. Margarita received her BS in Biology from Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), her MS in Genetics and Evolution from Universidade Federal de São Carlos (Brazil), and her Ph.D. in Entomology from Cornell University (USA). She was an NSF postdoctoral research fellow at North Carolina State University before joining Penn State. As an extension specialist on pollinator health, she works on understanding the factors that shape bee health and the long-term persistence of their populations in agricultural areas.