Judith Pardo-Pérez

Judith Pardo-Pérez is a Chilean researcher currently working at Universidad de Magallanes and as an associate researcher from the Cape Horn International Center, Puerto Williams. She does research in Paleoecology, Paleobiology and Palaeopathologies of marine extinct animals.
Her most renowned discovery to date is Fiona, a fully in-tact fossil of a pregnant Ichthyosaur and her embryos.

Originally from Chile, Judith moved to Germany in 2008 through a scholarship from Chile and Germany to study at the University of Heidelberg, where she received her PhD in Sciences. She then went on to complete a PostDoc at the Naturkunde Museum in Stuttgart. She has since returned to Chile to continue her research through the Universidad de Magallanes but remains in close contact with the Naturkunde Museum in Stuttgart.

She is passionate about her work and prioritizes youth engagement in STEM fields. She was also chosen to be a part of the "Inspiradoras STEM" project from the Ministry of Science of Chilean Government that designs booklets and stories to bring adolescents closer to STEM disciplines and reduce gender gaps. She was elected as one of the 100 youth leaders from Chile (2011), also recognized as a featured women from the region of Magallanes (2018), outstanding citizen from the city of Punta Arenas (2022) and Illustrious daughter of the city of Porvenir in Tierra del Fuego (2023).

Judith also recently published with Penguin Random House a book called 'Nina y Diplo', an adventure story about a young girl who embarks on a journey through time to visit dinosaurs in Patagonia before they became extinct.