Ada Monzón

Ada Monzón (born May 12, 1965) is a Puerto Rican meteorologist and museum founder. She is the first woman meteorologist in Puerto Rico. She is also the founder of the EcoExploratorio: Museo de Ciencias de Puerto Rico, a science museum in Puerto Rico. Biography Monzon was born on May 12, 1965, in San Juan. She has recounted that her mother, aunt, and grandmother were all STEM teachers, and from the age of 6, she knew she wanted to become a meteorologist. However, there were no universities in Puerto Rico which taught meteorology, and economic factors prohibited her from attending universities in the mainland US. She therefore earned a bachelors' degree in mathematics, concentrating in physics, at the University of Puerto Rico. She then received a NASA fellowship to study meteorology at Florida State University, where she was the only civilian. She subsequently worked at the Federal Aviation Administration and the Kennedy Space Center, She worked as a professor at the University of Puerto Rico. She became best known for her broadcasts on WAPA-TV , Univision Radio, and Noticias in 2017 during Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria, during which her broadcasts were viewed by more than 31,000,000 people. She also visited some of the most affected locations, where she provided support.

She is also the founder and president of the EcoExploratorio: Museum de Ciencias de Puerto Rico , which she established in 2010 as a nonprofit. She was inspired by the California Academy of Sciences.

The organization began by leasing a building in 2014. Land was leased for a new building in 2019 and construction began in 2021 through a grant from the United States Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration. Monzon re-opened the museum in 2025, featuring funds from Goya and FirstBank and rooms themed around bioluminescent bays and natural disasters. She has been named by Forbes, The Washington Post, the Royal Meteorological Society, and The Weather Channel as one of the most influential female meteorologists of all time. She is a fellow of the American Meteorological Society.