Thursday, November 14, 2024

Maria Castano
Doctoral candidate and Biologist, University of Rochester 

Flame-rumped Tanager

Maria Castano is a Colombian biologist studying the role of behavior as a driver of population differentiation. The outstanding bird diversity of her home country made her an enthusiastic birder and ornithologist. She earned her BS at Universidad de los Andes, where she completed her undergraduate thesis about the amazing experience of performing a long-term population monitoring study about patterns of space use of montane birds. Maria joined the TropBioLab at the University of Rochester in Fall 2020, with the specific interest in how visual and acoustic signals involved in mate choice are shaped by ecological pressures that ultimately result in reproductive isolation of neotropical birds. Her dissertation project at UR focuses on the Flame-rumped Tanager (Ramphocelus flammigerus) subspecies complex—two subspecies that exhibit subtle morphological differences, but dramatic variation in the carotenoid-based plumage color of the rump.

Look for the Zoom link in your email a few days prior to the meeting. The Zoom Room will open at 6:45 PM.  Don’t wait until the last minute to sign on, you might be left out!