Rodríguez is an urban social ecologist who holds a Ph.D. in forestry and natural resources from Purdue University. Rodríguez helps city agencies and organizations improve natural resource management and address environmental injustice in their communities.

Before coming to UConn, Rodríguez was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Gund Institute for Environment and the Spatial Analysis Laboratory at the Rubenstein School for Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont.