About
Fields of study
Evolutionary genetics, evolutionary developmental biology, neurotoxin resistance and physiology, biogeography, systematics, natural history, herpetology.
Research interests
My research aims to understand the evolutionary, biogeographic, and developmental processes that give rise to biological diversity, both in terms of lineages (ie. taxonomic diversity) and phenotypes. The bulk of my work consists of integrating a variety of approaches, including systematics, population genetics, genome editing, and developmental biology, to understand the evolution of aposematic coloration, toxicity, and other associated traits in poison frogs of the family Dendrobatidae. Currently, my research program is focused on understanding two main aspects of phenotypic evolution in poison frogs: i) What are the genetic and developmental underpinnings of correlated evolution of aposematic traits? ii) How have poison frogs evolved to avoid the harmful effects associated with consuming and accumulating toxic alkaloids?
In addition, I am working to develop tools and resources that allow for more functional and mechanistic approaches to the study of poison frogs, such as reference genome assemblies and genome editing techniques.
Finally, considering the systematics and taxonomy of poison frogs remain unresolved for several groups and regions, I also maintain a research line aimed at describing and classifying the diversity of dendrobatid poison frogs, especially in Northwestern South America.
