Mentorship

Teaching experiences

2025 Assistant in Instruction. EEB346. Biology of Coral Reefs. Princeton University, USA & Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. STRI, Panama.

2024 Assistant in Instruction. EEB329. Sensory Ecology. Princeton University, USA.

2023 Assistant in Instruction. EEB346. Biology of Coral Reefs. Princeton University, USA & Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. STRI, Panama.

2022 Assistant in Instruction. EEB321. Ecology: Species Interactions, Biodiversity and Society. Princeton University, USA.

2015-I Teacher assistant Vertebrate Biology Lab, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

2014-II Instructor Museum Collections Workshop, Division of Birds, NMNH, Smithsonian Institution. CECPAN Chiloé, Chile.

2014-I Teacher assistant Vertebrate Biology Lab. Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

2013-II Teacher assistant Ornithology Lab. Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

2013-I Teacher assistant Vertebrate Biology Lab. Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

2012 Instructor Field course Nest searching and monitoring Course. Sociedad Caldense de Ornitología (SCO), Colombia.

2010 Instructor Field course Nest searching and monitoring Course. Darwin Foundation, University of British Columbia. XXIII Enc. Nal. de Observ. de Aves, Colombia.

Undergraduates' Advisor

Jonathan G. Orozco Herrera BSc. 2026 | Universidad de Caldas (Col)

Jonathan is interested in the ecology and evolution of egg color in Nightjars.

Esteban Tamayo Quintero BSc. 2026 | Universidad del Quindío (Col)

Co-advised with Dr. Victor Hugo García-Merchan

Esteban is interested in testing the drivers of diversity in the nest types of passerine birds, specifically in the family Thamnophilidae.

I had the privilege of advising these now-biologists! Congratulations!

Sarah Cháves Castaño, BSc. 2024 | Universidad de Caldas (Col)

Co-advised with Dr. María Fabiola Ospina

Sarah is interested in the foraging behaviors of the Buffy Helmetcrest (Oxypogon stuebelii), an endemic and threatened species. She wants to describe the ecological interaction network of this highland (Páramo) Hummingbird with plants by using focal observations and mist nets to collect pollen to identify at the lab.

Winner 2022 FRANÇOIS VUILLEUMIER FUND FOR RESEARCH ON NEOTROPICAL BIRDS (NOS)

Financially supported by the Sociedad Caldense de Ornitologia and Red de Aviturismo de Caldas

Juan Felipe León León, BSc. 2024 | Universidad de Caldas (Col)

Co-advised with Dr. Paul David Alfonso Gutiérrez

The effect of vegetation cover on the selection of nesting sites of a bird community in an agroforestry system.

Maria Elisa Mendiwelso Moreno, BSc. 2023 | Universidad de los Andes (Col)

Co-advised with Dr. Carlos Daniel Cadena

Maria Elisa is interested in the evolution of color diversity in birds' eggs. In her undergraduate thesis "The Hidden World of Egg Coloration: Exploring the Drivers of Variation in UV Reflectance", she tested hypotheses explaining the function of UV coloration in bird eggs. The results primarily supported that UV coloration serves as protection against UV radiation in exposed nests. In the future, she wants to continue her research on avian reproductive biology, including molecular approaches.

Winner 2022 FRANÇOIS VUILLEUMIER FUND FOR RESEARCH ON NEOTROPICAL BIRDS (NOS)

Daniel Felipe Aristizábal, BSc. 2023 | Universidad de Caldas (Col)

Co-advised with Dr. Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves

Bird of Caldas, richness and biogeographical affinities.

Deivy Gómez, BSc. 2021 | Universidad de Caldas (Col)

Co-advised with Ph.D. Candidate Jenny M. Muñoz Zapata

His main area of interest is birds' mixed flocks. In his undergraduate thesis: Changes in the structure of mixed bird flocks along a habitat fragmentation gradient in the middle Magdalena Caldas, he found that mixed flocks did vary in their composition, but not size, across different habitat types. Sensitive species and understory specialists were present only in the forest. In the future, he wants to continue working on this topic, including at comparations across different latitudes.

Laura Zuleta Zuleta, BSc. 2019 | Universidad de Caldas (Col)

Laura was always interested in birds, especially in learning more about their ecology. For her undergraduate thesis, she studied aspects of Breeding Biology of the Andean-cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus) in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Currently, she's working with bird monitoring in the Colombian Andes.