I'm from Panama, where I also did my Licenciatura (Bachelors) on Biology with a thesis that focused on analysing population dynamics of Geometridae moths (Inchworms) which help me cement my interest in insect conservation. From there I was a Visiting Student Fellow at the Arthropod Monitoring Lab at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute where I worked with next generation approaches to insect monitoring, from metabarcoding to Machine Learning assisted systems for the identification of species.
My research interests focus on insect conservation, ecology, and biodiversity. I approach these topics from a multidisciplinary perspective, combining traditional methods for long-term population monitoring and ecological studies in entomology.
My current research focuses on identifying the drivers that influence insect diel activity dynamics, with particular emphasis on the effects of climate change and extreme weather events. Butterflies and moths, which are the focus of my work, provide essential ecosystem services, including pollination, and play a key role as a foundation of many food webs. I aim to investigate the impacts of climate change by (i) examining how contemporary insect communities' diel patterns respond to variation in temperature and habitat conditions, and (ii) assessing how future climate scenarios may affect these diel activity patterns.
