She earned a PhD in modern history from the University of Oxford in 2011 and an MA in cultural history from the University of York in 2005. She completed at the Universidad de los Andes her undergraduate studies in law in 1996 and a graduate degree in journalism in 2003. Otero-Cleves specializes in the history of nineteenth-century Colombia, with a particular interest in the history of consumption and legal culture. A scholarship from the Clarendon Fund and the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme (ORSAS) have funded her research.