Garcia is a Boricua (Puerto Rican) geologist who is interested in ethnogeology, cave and karst science, place-based education and increasing diversity within geosciences.
Garcia completed his undergraduate degree in Puerto Rico at Universidad Ana G. Mendez (formerly known as Universidad Metropolitana) majoring in environmental sciences with a minor in marine biology. He then started his graduate career at the University of Vermont where he finished a master’s degree in geology, focusing on geochemistry. Garcia then attended Arizona State University for his doctoral degree in geological sciences, focusing in ethnogeology about culturally framed geological interpretations among long-term residents in the Dominican and Puerto Rican karst.
“Right now, we know that Grand Caverns is not even close to being the biggest cave. But I think that [history] is something that is hard to replicate with all the caves in the area. They are unique, they are beautiful, they have a history, but [Grand Caverns] has a unique history.”