[2] As a child, she wanted to be a nurse, but after a childhood accident left her in a cast and with a traction device, forcing her to remain bedfast for five years, she changed her mind.
In 1955, she enrolled in biology courses and worked at the newly created Institute of Zoological Research, under Guillermo Mann [es],[3] finishing her degree in 1959.
Working for the Instituto Antarctico Chileno at the Bernado O’Higgins Station on the northeast edge of the peninsula, Lafuente evaluated bird reproduction, while Quihot, studied the local fauna.
The research she conducted in Antarctica created a fascination with lichens for Quihot, which became the focus of her work for the next forty years.
[4] At the 12th Congress of the Latin American Group of Lichenology Spanish: Grupo Latinoamericano de Liquenología, held in Quito, Ecuador in 2016, she was awarded the Vainio Prize for her research on lichens and the Wanda Quilhot Palma Prize was established to recognize research excellence in the field of lichenology.