Office Phone: (919) 613--8160
Email: dac21@duke.edu
Advisor: Christensen

Education:

Bachelor of Arts, Biology, National Autonomus University of Mexico (UNAM) (2000)

Area of Concentration:

Landscape Ecology

Current Research Description:

Being native from Mexico, a country with high levels of biological and cultural diversity, influenced my decision to do a PhD in Ecology, focused on conservation involving human ecology aspects. After working in different conservation projects in the National University of Mexico (UNAM), the NGO “Unidos para la Conservation” and the Ministry of Environment of Mexico City, my main research interest became the intersection of human activities, mainly land use, and the conservation of biodiversity. My research is based on studying the functionality of corridors including how human aspects affect them.

There are two main projects I am working on as a part of an interdisciplinary team:

1. Conservation of the Jaguar (Pantera onca) in the Mayan Rainforest, a flagship species for the design of the Mesoamerican Corridor in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.

2. Design of Transboundary corridors in Southern Africa, using the elephant as a key species.

My research in Central America started in August of 2002. I am working with a great group of researchers and managers of the NGO Unidos Para la Conservacion, Ecosafaris and the Institute of Ecology of the UNAM. These institutions started a Jaguar research project in 1997 with the aim of understanding the ecology of one of the least known big cats in the world. In 2002 I joined the team to start assessing the feasibility and functionality of the corridor between the Reserves of Calackmul and Siankan (in the Yucatan Peninsula), and the northern reserves in Guatemala. I am including as well the human factor in my research in order to generate a model to predict the feasibility and functionality of these two proposed corridors. My research in Southern Africa: I started working in this region in the summer of 2003. I am proud to be part of a great team that has been working for years on different aspects of elephant’s biology and ecology.

My research involves spatial analysis of the dynamics of elephant’s habitat selection and its relationship with human elephant conflict; mostly in areas where the elephant populations have been rapidly increasing.