Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program:
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

I am originally from Colombia. I hold a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Cauca in Colombia, a master’s degree in environmental sciences, and a Ph.D. in Sciences from the State University of Maringa in Brazil. Throughout my academic journey, my research has mainly focused on understanding the impact of human activities (such as dam construction and species introduction) on fish community diversity. During my undergraduate studies, I studied the spatial and temporal distribution of fish in the Ovejas River basin in Colombia. For my Master’s, I examined how fish reproductive strategies respond across different spatial gradients, considering the pre- and post-dam phases of the São Salvador reservoir in the Tocantins River in Brazil. In my doctoral studies, I investigated the effects of the coexistence of native and non-native fish species in the floodplain of the Upper Paraná River in Brazil over 30 years of invasion, as well as in rivers altered by dams. Currently, I'm working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Aquaculture at MSU, where I'm involved in developing a management framework for invasive carp species in the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.