In my PhD I will focus on studying the role of color signals towards predators and mates. The study of animal coloration is a key research area in biology, used to study evolution by both natural and sexual selection. My project will focus on testing how the coloration and ecology of animals is shaped by the combined need to avoid predators and to attract mates, and whether these two selection pressures result in similar or divergent appearance in animals. Results will be compared using ladybirds from relatively simple ecological settings, with few predator species (the UK) and ladybirds occurring in complex tropical ecosystems with many predators (Colombia). My goal is to provide new insights into the evolution of predator-prey interactions, mate choice and more broadly the study of evolutionary processes and behavioural ecology.

Prior to Cambridge:
I graduated from the Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) in 2008 with a B.Sc. in Biology and continued on to complete my Master’s degree in the same institution. During my M.Sc., I was part of the Behavioral Ecology and Herpetology Group (GECOH), where I worked with two genera of poison frogs, Phyllobates and Dendrobates, analysing their diet preferences and how diet specialization has influenced the evolution of aposematic coloration and toxicity. I was also the caretaker of ~20 different species of frogs, which got me involved in several other projects regarding ex-situ conservation and reproduction of these animals. During this time, I also worked as a graduate teaching assistant for various undergraduate courses such as animal behaviour, biology for psychologists and animal physiology, and as an administrative assistant for the School of Graduate Studies of the Department of Biological Studies.