Using genotypic and phenotypic evidence
About me
I am a Ph.D. biologist with interest in the taxonomy and systematics of several arachnid orders, including Amblypygi, Schizomida, Scorpiones, and Thelyphonida, primarily from the Neotropics. My undergraduate study, "Taxonomic revision of Tityus (Archaeotityus) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from Colombia," was conducted at Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia under the advise of Ranulfo González (Ph.D.) and Eduardo Flórez (Ph.D.). Meanwhile, I conducted extensive fieldwork in Colombia, obtaining samples of several new taxa from the smaller arachnid orders.
After graduating from the biology program, I worked for two years as a professional biologist for various private institutions (e.g., Bosques & Semillas, Unión Temporal Jaguar Corredor Norandino, Universidad ICESI- Cali, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)). In doing so, I performed experimental design, data collection, statistical analyses, material identification, and ecological reports for selected arthropod taxa (e.g., ants, dung beetles, and spiders) in different Colombian ecosystems (i.e., Andean Forest, Dry tropical Forest, and Paramo).
Later on, in 2015, I moved to Brazil and started my Ph.D. project, "Phylogenetic analysis of the Tityus clathratus species group and other Tityus groups and subgenera (Scorpiones, Buthidae) based on molecular and morphological characters," under the advise of Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha (Ph.D.) at Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP. During my Ph.D., I also worked with arachnid orders such as Amblypygi and Schizomida, publishing some contributions and reviewing articles for a handful of journals.
After obtaining my Ph.D. in 2021, I became occasional lecturer at the Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS), Bucaramanga, Colombia. In 2022, I worked as an entomologist performing sampling and ecological reports using dung beetles, as a study model, for Ecopetrol and Servicios Geológicos Integrados (S.G.I.) S.A.S. Then, between May 2022- May 2024, I joined the Division of Invertebrate Zoology of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), New York, as a postdoctoral fellow in the National Science Foundation (NSF) project: "Systematics and evolution of Pedipalpi (whip spiders and whip scorpions): phylogenomics and morphology of understudied arachnids" (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2003382&HistoricalAwards=false). Finally, I continued being part of the AMNH as a Gerstner postdoctoral fellow in the Richard Gilder School Graduate (May 2024- May 2026) with the project: "Neotropical biogeography assessed from the perspective of the World's most diverse scorpion genus, Tityus."