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About the Scientist

Carmen Cid is a Cuban American ecologist. She studies urban wetlands and how to keep them healthy. Her work takes her to a small wetland in Connecticut where she keeps track of plant and animal diversity. She also works with other scientists, who study insect life and water quality in the pond.

Carmen Cid

Biography of Carmen Cid

Find out more about Carmen on the Urban Ecologist CD-ROM. The complete biography is 14 pages and includes a glossary.

When Carmen was a kid, she hated mud. The memory makes her laugh today. As an ecologist, Carmen spends most of her time in mud. Sturdy jeans and rubber boots have replaced the white dresses and polished shoes of her girlhood.

Young CarmenJust about every day, Carmen pulls on her favorite jeans and boots and heads for a wetland near her home in Connecticut. Carmen's job is to observe the changes that take place in natural areas like wetlands. The area Carmen studies has two ponds, a small forest, and a stream.

What makes this wetland unusual is that it is urban. "It's right in the middle of town," says Carmen. There is a highway, a ballpark, the university, and houses nearby. "Most people think that nature is someplace else -- a rainforest, a prairie, or a wilderness," she remarks. "They never think that nature is all around them, like this place."

(excerpted from the biography written by Sarah Disbrow and Gary Hochman. The entire biography is available on the Urban Ecologist CD-ROM.)

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 9909496.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and
do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).