Gislayne Mendoza Alcívar is from San Cristóbal Island. He studied Biotechnology Engineering at the San Francisco University in Quito, Ecuador. Her interest in the conservation of wild animals began when she was a child and it increased when she did her undergraduate thesis on marine rays, when she focused on understanding the genetics of eagle rays in San Cristóbal Island. In 2021, she joined the Galapagos Tortoise Movement Ecology Program, within the Charles Darwin Foundation. Since then, she has supported to the tortoise program by analyzing tortoise health samples in the laboratory in search for viruses and other diseases.

In 2022, she moved from tortoises to birds, to continue using molecular techniques for the detection of viruses and bacteria, this time focusing on finches and other endangered land birds. Her aim is to create a baseline of Galapagos wildlife health to inform wildlife restoration projects and management decision that will reinforce the conservation of these unique species in the world.