Camilo Alfonso

IGC FELLOW    |   Global Change Center

Ph.D. Candidate  •   Biological Sciences  

Advisor: Dr. Ignacio Moore

Research Interests: Behavioral endocrinology, ecophysiology, tropical ecology, ornithology

calfonsoc@vt.edu

Camilo completed his undergraduate studies of Biology in the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. For his undergraduate thesis, he participated in an internship with the University of Florida to investigate the natural history of the Saffron-crested tyrant manakin. Camilo has wide experience studying birds in tropical environments. In Ecuador, he participated as a field assistant in a project examining the effects of testosterone on the social behavior of the wire-tailed manakin. In Panama, he joined the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Wyoming to study the effects of rain gradients and habitat fragmentation on the demography of understory birds. Camilo started his Ph.D. in the Moore lab in the fall of 2018 and received a Fulbright scholarship to support his studies.

He investigates the relationship between stress hormones and fitness in tropical birds with polygynous mating systems. The purpose of his research is to address if habitat degradation is a possible cause for the decreasing of bird populations, which are topics framed in the IGC goals. As an IGC fellow, Camilo hopes to interact with researchers from other fields to improve his communication skills, so his research has a broader impact in the public since he is aware enacting changes based only on scientific results are impossible.