I am a postdoctoral researcher testing the migratory escape hypothesis in birds. I received my PhD at the University of Chicago, after which I spent two years at University of Connecticut as a Research and Teaching Scholar. My research explores the ecological and evolutionary processes shaping host-microbiota interactions in birds, with a particular emphasis on utilizing museum specimens as a key resource.

I started my career in my home country (Germany), were I obtained my BSc in Biology at the University of Greifwald and my MSc in Organismic Biology and Evolution at the Humboldt-University of Berlin. My doctoral degree I also obtained at the Humboldt University of Berlin were I worked on the origin of Cynodontia, the synapsid group ancestral to and including mammals, in the Jörg Fröbisch lab at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin under the supervision of Prof. Jörg Fröbisch and Dr. Christian Kammerer. My research interests centre particularly on the systematics and evolutionary history of non-mammalian synapsids, the dominant group of land vertebrates at the end of the Paleozoic, and mammals. I am also working on the evolution of the nervous and sensory system in these lineages using modern computed tomography.

I am a Colombian biologist interested in studying macroecological and macroevolutionary patterns of species diversity across broad spatial, temporal, and phylogenetic scales. I am also actively working on the taxonomy and systematics of Neotropical reptiles, with a particular emphasis on snakes and gymnophthalmid lizards. Additionally, I am a self-taught nature photographer and programmer.

Research Gate

I am a PhD candidate at EEB – Princeton with a background in biology. My main scientific interests can be reduced to the simple question of what drives diversification and morphological disparity. For my doctoral research, I will be integrating genetic and morphological data, employing both empirical and theoretical approaches, to deepen our understanding of macroevolutionary patterns in Squamata.

I am broadly interested in evolutionary patterns and their underlying mechanistic processes. I am currently a first-year graduate student at the Simões lab, where I’ll be working on phylogenetic inferences using clock models in macroevolutionary research. Before joining Princeton EEB, I was a MEME student (Erasmus Mundus Masters in Evolutionary Biology), and my research experience has been quite diverse, from working with agent-based models of host-parasite coevolution and phylogenetics-based trait evolution to studying sleep in a highly social bird in the wild. Outside academia, one can find me either bouldering or in some water body.

I am a researcher focused on applying machine learning to predict evolutionary trajectories, specifically utilizing Bayesian inference and neural networks. I studied Economics and Anthropology at Dartmouth, with a focus on financial policy. I then moved onto Bloomberg Global Data, where I sharpened by data analysis skills by developing investor models for the Bloomberg Terminal. My work bridges big data and evolutionary science, advancing our understanding of life’s complexities through computational power.

I am a research specialist in the Simões Lab studying the morphology of squamates. My background is in mammalian biology and environmental health, but I am currently interested in exploring morphometrics and comparative anatomy in reptiles. I grew up in New Jersey and completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Rutgers University. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, woodworking, and playing games with friends.