Ana Maria Bastidas Urrutia
PhD student, ecologist
Since | 2019 | PhD student at the Chair of Terrestrial Ecology, Technische Universität München under the supervision of Dr. C. Hof. Topic: Trait-based spatial community ecology of island birds: crossing scales and ecosystems. |
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2015- | 2018 | M.Sc. Evolution, Ecology and Systematic at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Thesis: ” The effect of light on web building preferences in spiders (Steatoda triangulosa)”. |
2001- | 2009 | B.Sc. Biology at Universidad de Nariño, Colombia. Thesis: “Prioritization of research areas in the Formicidae family in the States of Cauca and Nariño, Colombia”. |
I am a biologist with a passion for birds, biogeography, landscape ecology, and conservation.
I started my professional career studying Biology at the University of Nariño in Colombia (2009). During this time, I had the opportunity to work in different ecosystems and organisms. The fieldwork allowed me to observe all the biodiversity, interactions between species, and the environment’s dynamics. All these experiences made me fall in love. At the end of my degree, very impressed by all this biodiversity, I worked for several years in nature conservation. With GIS tools, fieldwork, and work with minority groups, I participated in the delimitation of ecosystems for their protection in my country. Then I decided to go further and did my master in Evolution and Ecology at the University of Munich – LMU (2018). Here I had the opportunity to get involved in the fascinating world of animal behaviour. I developed my master project in understanding how spiders’ behaviour is affected by artificial light disturbance.
Finally, a dream that I had since my bachelor’s degree reappeared: Mixing two of my great passions, birds and island biogeography. This is why I am now developing my doctoral project at the TUM as well. Through this project I aim to understand the variation in species richness, traits, and community structure of island birds on a global scale. In order to achieve this goal, I am analysing the importance of dispersal and resource acquisition traits in shaping the assemblage of bird communities on islands of different area sizes and degrees of isolation.
The results are fascinating, and each discovery makes me want to know more.