Dr. Freire was born and raised in Guatemala (Central America), a country with high biological and cultural diversity; rich in endemic species and traditional knowledge on the use of plants for different purposes.  Dr. Freire completed her B.S. in Biology at the San Carlos University, in Guatemala city. Her area of emphasis was: Conservation of Natural Resources.

In 1976, Guatemala was afflicted by a major earthquake that devastated many rural towns. As a reaction to this unfortunate loss of lives and tradition, the Mesoamerican Center of Alternative Technology was created to help rural communities improve their living standards and revalidate their traditional knowledge of plants . Dr. Freire was part of the team that surveyed the useful plants of rural Guatemala, to produce a written permanent record for future. Dr. Freire was also in charge of a medicinal plant data center and the medicinal plant quality control unit at CEMAT.

In 1991, Dr. Freire was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship by the US Government, to conduct graduate studies in the United States of America.  Dr. Freire earned a MS in molecular biology and tissue culture, researching  in vitro propagation and genetic modification of coffee (MS thesis: Agrobacterium mediated transformation of leaf explants of Coffea arabica L.). Next she completed a PhD in Botany with a specialization in Bryology  (Doctoral dissertation:  Revision of the suborder Fossombroniineae (Jungermanniophyta, Metzgeriales) of Latin America.

After the completion of her doctorate, Dr. Freire spent 2 years in Guatemala. During this time she was head of several projects  that include: reintroduction of the multipurpose tree Moringa oleifera to the dry forest of Guatemala, study of liverworts from the cloud forest of Guatemala, useful plants of Atitlan Lake,  cosmovision of the indigenous groups at the Ixil triangle, course on  medicinal plants and herbarium techniques in Sierra de Las Minas, course on medicinal plants in Poptun Peten. Dr. Freire taught Plant Anatomy and Farmacobotanica at Universidad de San Carlos and helped develop the first Masters program on the use and propagation of medicinal plants (MUPLAM).

In 1999, Dr. Freire was hired as a professor of Biology at the Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, where she teaches: Introduction to Plant Biology, Plant Morphology, Bryology and Ethnobotany. She leads ethnobotanical trips to Guatemala and Belize and curates the Bryology, Algae and Fungi collections at the Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium –Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. Dr. Freire created a minor in Ethnobotany (UWSP-Biology/Anthropology) with the help of Dr. Barbara Butler (Anthropology).