Tamara received her Ph.D. from The Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.  Her dissertation research was concerned with Functional analysis of oxylipins, a family of lipid derivatives implicated in defense processes against pathogens and as signaling molecules in plant development. From 2014-15 she was a Philomathia Fellow studying plant cell wall synthesis with Professor Chris Somerville. She discovered and characterized a novel protein involved in vesicle trafficking of cellulose synthase complexes to the plasma membrane. Genetic studies showed that the protein is necessary for normal cellulose biosynthesis and building the complex structure of cell wall. She is currently a research scientist in the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University.