Research

I'm very excited to be working with amphibians! For my research at Dr. Lisa Barrow's Lab, I am using repurposed information and new genomic data to study what determines genetic/genomic diversity in amphibians. 

I have presented the results of this research at the JMIH 2022 in Spokane, Washington, my first JMIH ever!  I presented the results at the 5th Standalone Meeting of the Society of Systematic Biologists in Mexico City in January 2023, and at two Evolution meetings: Montreal, Canada in 2024 and Athens, GA in 2025. At these events, I presented what determines amphibian nucleotide diversity in Neotropical amphibians using phylogeny, natural history traits, and geography. Presenting at conferences is one of the best experiences as an academic and scientist. I always recommend it!

Please check our first two manuscripts derived from this project. 1) We studied determinants of genetic variation in Neotropical amphibians using Machine Learning and Phylogenetic Comparative Methods.  https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14795 and 2) We analyzed the population genomics of four frog species in a barrier island system in Florida https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blae063

Check the preprint of our recent study on predictors of genetic variation in global salamanders! https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.24.634750v3

In collaboration with Dr. Juan Manuel Guayasamin MSc. Daniela Franco and Mateo Vega-Yanez (USFQ) and collaborators, we are studying the systematics of the Centrolene buckleyi species complex (Anura: Centrolenidae) using an integrative approach to describe new species from Ecuador. I helped to describe two new species of Centrolene from the Andes in Ecuador, which were published in PeerJ https://peerj.com/articles/17712/. 

Recently, we published this manuscript led by Mateo Vega: "Evolutionary Conservation Hotspots: Key Areas for Threatened Neotropical Glassfrogs under Climate Change Scenarios." PeerJ 14: e21165. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21165

In collaboration with Ecuadorian researchers, we are studying the ecology and distribution of reptile species present in western Ecuador.  This research includes projects involving new distributional records of native and introduced species.

Check out our latest publication: https://checklist.pensoft.net/article/53172/element/8/26679//

A new manuscript led by Dr. Andrea Narvaez about the expansion of the brown anole (Anolis sagrei) in Ecuador was recently published in BioInvasions Records. The manuscript is available here: https://www.reabic.net/journals/bir/2024/Issue2.aspx 

This was my PhD research at the Universidad Austral de Chile with the mentoring of Dr. Guillermo D'Elia and Dr. Pedro Victoriano. The main goal of this research was to clarify the taxonomic status of Parastacus nicoleti an endemic freshwater crayfish from southern Chile. To achieve this goal, I used an integrative taxonomic approach with molecular (mtDNA and SNPs) and morphological (linear and geometric) data of samples recovered along with the distribution range of this crayfish species.  

Check out our latest publication: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790322000562

In this work, we found that P. nicoleti is a species complex, and we are proposing six new cryptic and allopatric species! We uncovered a complex and ancient history of diversification (The crown age for P. nicoleti s.l. was estimated at approx. 33 Ma!).

In collaboration with researchers from Ecuador and Chile, and led by Dr. Luis A. Coloma (Centro Jambatu de Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios) and Dr. Juan Carlos Santos (St. John's University) we are studying the systematics of the clades infraguttatus and elachyhistus (Anura: Dendrobatidae) for the description of new species from Ecuador.