Equipo científico - IDENTIDAD MADIDI

Our team

AllBirdsMammalsFishAmphibians and ReptilesInvertebratesPlantsCommunication

SMALL NON-FLYING MAMMALS (RODENTS)
Nuria Bernal

Small flying mammals (bats)
Lizette Siles Mendoza

Medium and large-sized mammals
Guido Ayala

SMALL NON-FLYING MAMMALS (RODENTS)

Nuria Bernal

Biologist from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia, she has a Master's degree in Conservation Biology from Columbia University (USA) and in Ecology from the College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry (CESF) of the State University of New York (SUNY). She was part of the research team of the Bolivian Fauna Collection-National Museum of Natural History, assuming responsibility for the scientific collection of mammals. Since 2010 she is part of the Wildlife Conservation Society team in Bolivia, and is responsible for monitoring the projects implemented by the institution for the management of natural resources and wildlife conservation. Her main area of interest is the ecology and biogeography of small mammals, their historical and present relationship with habitats and with their predators. Nuria was part of the group of researchers who contributed with their work and scientific information in the elaboration of the management plan for Madidi (2005), and she considers herself as one more in love with its landscapes and biodiversity.

Small flying mammals (bats)

Lizette Siles Mendoza

Biologist from the Universidad Mayor de San Simón, she has a PhD in Zoology and Museum Sciences from Texas Tech University, USA. She began her career participating in bat diversity projects and conservation education. Subsequently, she received three consecutive grants from the Rufford Foundation and Whitley Fund for Nature to carry out her bat conservation project in rural communities in Bolivia, where she sampled more than 40 sites throughout Bolivia. These evaluations sparked her interest in pursuing a graduate specialization in systematics and taxonomy. During her doctoral studies she was educated in these topics and also in phylogenetics and evolution of mammals. She also formed part of the Mammal Collection at the Museum of Texas Tech University where she gained experience in the acquisition, preservation and management of scientific collections. She participated in expeditions to collect specimens for use in genomics in the USA, Mexico and Guatemala. Her scientific publications include a variety of topics, such as biodiversity, refugia, bioacoustics, new distribution records, conservation, metagenomics, and taxonomy. With the use of molecular and morphometric techniques she described four new bat species for science, including three species endemic to San Vicente Island, Ecuador and Bolivia. She is also a research associate at the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural Alcide d'Orbigny in Cochabamba.

Birds

Rodrigo W. Soria Auza, Ph. D.

Nature lover, avid birdwatcher and photography enthusiast. Studied Biology at UMSS until December 2002. Moved to Santa Cruz de la Sierra to work at Armonía. There he was leader of a multidisciplinary team of biologists for the Key Biodiversity Areas of Bolivia project (a project of the University of Glasgow, Asociación Armonía and the Noel Kempff Mercado Museum of Natural History). Subsequently he developed the Conservation and Research Program Pauxi unicornis - Bolivia, thanks to which he discovered the population of this endangered species in the TIPNIS. In September 2005 he started his PhD at the University of Goettingen (Germany), obtaining his degree in September 2009. He continued his postdoctoral research at the "FFRG - Biodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography" unit (University of Goettingen). In October 2011 he returned to Bolivia to become the director of conservation programs at Armonía.

Birds

Víctor Hugo García Solíz

Born in Cochabamba, Bolivia, he studied biology at the Universidad Mayor de San Simón, where he developed his ornithological skills and focused his efforts in bird conservation and biodiversity with Asociación Civil Armonía. At the same time, he worked and trained in many projects, such as "Refugio Los Volcanes" with Ph.D. Sebastian Herzog and the Key Biodiversity Areas of Bolivia (CBA) developed with the University of Glasgow and the Natural History Museum Noel Kempff Mercado, which allowed him to visit several areas of Bolivia, accumulating a lot of ornithological experience in many regions of the country such as the High Andes, Yungas, inter-Andean valleys, Amazon, Chaco, Cerrado and Pantanal. He attended workshops and courses abroad, such as taxidermy at the Louisiana State University Museum (LSUMZ). Thanks to his experience, he provided important support to several institutions in the formation of bird baselines in many regions, making important contributions to the bird database of Bolivia, as well as Conservation International, FAUNAGUA, and in Identidad Madidi, among others. He is also one of the co-authors of the first ornithological guide of the country "Guía de Campo de las Aves de Bolivia", thus contributing to the development of national ornithology.Guía de Campo de las Aves de Bolivia”, contribuyendo así al desarrollo de la ornitología nacional.

Fish

Guido Miranda

Born in Potosí, he is a biologist from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (La Paz, Bolivia). Since the beginning of his career he was an associate researcher at the Limnology Unit of the Institute of Ecology. He conducted his first research on the biology and ecology of cave fishes in Torotoro National Park and hot springs fishes in Potosí. He has worked on ornamental fish projects in several areas of the Amazon. Since 2007 he is part of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Bolivia, coordinating wildlife management projects with indigenous communities in northern La Paz and developing research work on fishes. He has several publications on wildlife management and Bolivian ichthyofauna.

Fish

Gustavo Alvarez

Studied at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, in the Faculty of Pure and Natural Sciences. In 2006, he completed his undergraduate thesis on the use of ichthyofauna in the locality of El Charal (Beni, Bolivia) during the wet and dry transition period (2006). He participated in the development of studies on ichthyological biodiversity in the La Plata basin (PEA Project, 2006) and fish farming potential in the Pilcomayo river basin (Prefecture of the Department of Tarija, 2007). He provided technical support to the operation of the Project School of Fundación Puma and served as coordinator of the project "Management and Sustainable Use of Suchi in the Santa Catalina community of the Municipality of Apolo (2007-2008).

Amphibians and Reptiles

James Aparicio

A zoologist (B.Sc. Biology) with postgraduate courses in Costa Rica, Brazil and Colombia on management, ecology and conservation, he has a Diploma in Resilience Planning and Adaptation to Climate Change; and a Diploma in Higher Education and University Teaching. From 1995 to 2019 he was Head Curator of Herpetology at the Bolivian Fauna Collection, and from 1997 to 2019 he was head of Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History in La Paz. He currently teaches Environmental Engineering at the Universidad Publica El Alto (UPEA). Since 1991 he has studied ecology, biology and systematics, and since 1997 he has been involved in wildlife management, actively participating in the Bolivian Program for the Sustainable Use of the Caiman yacare, developing conservation programs for freshwater turtles (Podocnemis unifilis) in the Amazon, and for the Choco yacare (Caiman latirostris) in the Bolivian Chaco. He has conducted biodiversity assessments in all Bolivian ecosystems and in several national protected areas, contributing to the elaboration of their management plans. Since 2005, he contributed his knowledge to the topic of Climate Change. He has 75 scientific publications, mainly in indexed international scientific journals, but also several book chapters. His current line of research is focused on two topics: a) studying the effect of climate change on biodiversity, through monitoring Andean amphibians and reptiles, within the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) program in Bolivia; b) the ecology and biology of amphibians and reptiles in Bolivia, with emphasis on the Yungas and altiplano regions.

Invertebrates

Fernando Guerra

He studied at the San Francisco Xavier University in Chuquisaca and at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz. He is passionate about nature and research, and for 30 years he has dedicated his studies to Bolivian wildlife. Since 1985, he started collections in Sucre, applying taxidermy techniques on wild vertebrates for museums. In 1988, he conducted wildlife research at the Beni Biological Station with the Smithsonian Institution's Latin American Biological Diversity course. Since 1994 he has participated in several Rapid Assessment Programs (RAP), in the Palmar Forests in Chuquisaca; ENTOMORAP in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, AQUARAP in Manuripi, Pando, ENTOMORAP in Chalalán and Heath in Madidi, La Paz and in the Noel Kempff Mercado Park in Santa Cruz. His interest in insects has resulted in several books and articles, including “The Tiger Beetles of Bolivia: Their Identification, Distribution and Natural History (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)”, 1999; “Mariposas Diurnas Comunes del Municipio de Coroico Saturniidae y Sphingidae de los Yungas de La Paz”, 2011; y “Mariposas Diurnas del Valle de La Paz”, 2013. Currently, he is an associate researcher of the Bolivian Fauna Collection, Researcher of the Bolivian Technological University and Legal Representative of the Conservation and Environment Consultancy - EIRU S.R.L.The Tiger Beetles of Bolivia: Their Identification, Distribution and Natural History (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)”, 1999; “Mariposas Diurnas Comunes del Municipio de Coroico Saturniidae y Sphingidae de los Yungas de La Paz”, 2011; y “Mariposas Diurnas del Valle de La Paz”, 2013. Actualmente, es investigador asociado de la Colección Boliviana de Fauna, Investigador de la Universidad Tecnológica Boliviana y Representante Legal de la Consultora Conservación y Medio Ambiente – EIRU S.R.L.

Invertebrates

Martín Apaza

Agronomist by profession, he has a specialty in agroecology and sustainable development. His work experience involves biodiversity, conservation and forestry areas, especially in entomology due to his passion for insects. He has contributed to important publications such as management plans and butterfly diagnostics for the Nayriri Butterfly Sanctuary in Cotapata National Park, in the Pilón Lajas TCO, Tsimane - Mosetene Regional Council and Senda Verde Wildlife Refuge, and has prepared butterfly field guides for the eco-lodges of San Miguel del Bala, Chalalan and Ecolodge Sadiri. His extensive knowledge of butterflies led him to collaborate with the publication of the Red Book of Invertebrates of Bolivia. In 2003 he did his graduate work with Lepidoptera in Madidi National Park and Natural Area of Integrated Management. In 2007 he was part of the Tropical Andean Butterfly Diversity Project (TABDP), with three grants related to the study of butterflies. In 2008 he conducted altitudinal studies on butterflies in Madidi NPIMLNP. Between 2015 and 2020 he supported in the survey, inventory and preparation of lepidopteran specimens as part of the Identidad Madidi scientific expedition. He is currently a research associate of the Bolivian Fauna Collection.

Communication

Robert Wallace

Rob Wallace was a Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) volunteer in eastern Bolivia for two years before completing his PhD on the behavioral ecology of the black spider monkey (Ateles chamek). A Senior Conservation Scientist for WCS, he is currently the director of the Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Conservation Program in northwestern Bolivia and southeastern Peru and leader of the Identidad Madidi initiative. Since 1999 he has led research on jaguar (Panthera onca), Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus), Andean condor (Vultur gryphus), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis) and several ungulates and primates, including the discovery of a new species of titi monkey (Plecturocebus aureipalatii). He supported the supervision of more than 50 theses of Bolivian undergraduate and graduate students. He is a member of the IUCN cracid, Neotropical Primate, tapir, otter, vulture, pigs and peccaries and Andean bear specialist groups, and has more than 260 publication of the ecology and conservation of Bolivian biodiversity. He also works on a wide variety of community-based natural resource management projects and works with indigenous organizations and protected areas on conservation planning, monitoring and technical aspects of institutional strengthening.

Medium and large-sized mammals

Guido Ayala

Biologist, with a Master's degree in Ecology and Conservation from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, he is currently a PhD student in Biology and Ecology of Global Change at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. Since 2001 he started working on fauna research in WCS, especially on landscape species, such as jaguar (Panthera onca), white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari), lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) and other mammal species, through standard methodologies such as camera traps, transects, and censuses, in order to study the ecology and abundance of the species and generate information that will help in their conservation and management. He has also supported several students in the preparation of their graduate theses and has participated in training courses for park guards. Committed to the dissemination and environmental education of children, youth and adults, he has organized events for the dissemination of Bolivian fauna.

Communication

Elvira Salinas

Psychologist by training and has completed postgraduate studies in protected area planning and in Andean and Amazonian history at the San Andrés University in Bolivia. She has specialized in topics related to environmental management, from a historical and social perspective, allowing her to work in environmental planning, environmental and historical research, protected area management, environmental education and communication. As monitoring and communication coordinator in WCS Bolivia, Elvira has supported systematization and outreach of the outcomes of the Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape Conservation Program. She has also collaborated in editing scientific and technical documents, organizing photographic exhibitions and communication events and in the design and implementation of a communication strategy. She has published several books and articles on environmental management, protected areas and related to the cultural value of wildlife.

Plants

Freddy Santiago Zenteno Ruiz

Biologist by profession, with professional specialization courses at postgraduate level on Training Course Biodiversity (TCB) at the University of Ghent between 2003-2004. He is a senior botanist-biogeographer with a deep knowledge of the flora and vegetation of Bolivia. His research covers phyto-biogeography, ecology, flora and vegetation of the Amazonian lowlands, montane forests, puna, high Andean vegetation, Tucuman-Bolivian forest, Chiquitano, Chaco and semi-arid regions of the Tropical Andes. He has published books, book chapters, technical reports and publications in national and international journals on topics related to the description of new species for science, description of flora and vegetation, development of management plans, harvesting best practices and the creation of protected areas. Since 1998 he has been an associate researcher at the National Herbarium of Bolivia-Institute of Ecology of the Universidad Mayor San Andrés.

Communication

Lilian Painter

Completed her PhD in Liverpool University, United Kingdom in Behavioural Ecology, before starting work in the Greater Madidi-Tambopata Landscape. She is now director of the Bolivia country program. She has led the development of management plans over 2,300,000 hectares of proteceted areas in the landscape and promoted alliances to support conservation with a wide array on organizations from indigenous and peasant organizations, to local, regional and national state and private entities. She has been awarded a prize by the protected area service of Bolivia as the most important contribution to the protected area service from civil society.

Communication

Andrés Ramirez

Andrés´ skill and passion for nature and the outdoors inspired him to work in conservation; he holds a MSc in Protected Area Management and Conservation from James Cook University (Australia) and has worked in WCS since 2008. He will play an important role in filming and documenting the expedition as well as reporting from the field.

Communication

Roger Paz

Has study System Engineering at "San Francisco de Asis" University, he works long time as support IT, does designs of networks, configuration and maintenance of servers Windows and Linux, local and remote support, and cloud services support. Years later he works as IT responsible for the Global Fund component HIV/AIDS in Bolivia, for after be a part of WCS Bolivia, his Current role is ICT Generalist, LACP

Invertebrates

Jorge Molina

Biologist by profession, specialized in the ecology of high Andean aquatic ecosystems with emphasis on macroinvertebrates of the region. He began research with his undergraduate thesis on the functional diversity of macroinvertebrates in two types of Andean rivers along the Cordillera Real between 2010 and 2013. He continued his work in peat bogs or bofedales within the project Biodiversity and land use interactions versus the evolution of glacier water availability in the humid zones of the tropical Andes (BIOTHAW), and in the bofedales of Hampaturi. He was part of the Identidad Madidi initiative between 2015 and 2018. He is currently organizing biological monitoring with macroinvertebrates in the Katari Basin in coordination with the Katari Basin Management Unit (UGCK) as a research associate of the Aquatic Ecology Unit of the Institute of Ecology.

Communication

Eleanor Briggs

Since 1989, award-winning photographer Eleanor Briggs has worked mostly in Southeast Asia and India photographing people, nature and birds. As a field researcher for the International Crane Foundation and then board member of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Briggs has spent months exploring the outer reaches of Burma, Laos, Bhutan, Nepal and Cambodia. More recently she has been photographing habitat and wildlife programs for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Cambodia, Malaysia and Bolivia. Her work hangs in the American Embassies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Lima, Peru and is included in museum and private collections. She was awarded the Sahametrei Medal by the Government of Cambodia for her contributions to conservation there and for her book on that country.

Communication

Cynthya Jurado Araúz

Biologist from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, she worked with mammals doing her thesis with giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), evaluating populations in the TCO Tacana. She has worked for more than five years with outreach projects on the endemic monkeys of Beni and giving talks on the different species of mammals in educational units and communities. Since 2015 she visited different educational units in the urban area of the cities of La Paz and El Alto, as well as the rural area of northern La Paz, in the municipalities of Apolo, Ixiamas, San Buenaventura and Pelechuco to inform primary and secondary school students about the progress of the Identidad Madidi scientific expedition, promoting the importance of protected areas and biodiversity in Bolivia. She currently works at Wildlife Conservation Society as Head of Environmental Education.

Amphibians and Reptiles

Mauricio Ocampo

A researcher associate of the Herpetology Researchers Network and the Bolivian Fauna Collection, he is currently in the third year of his PhD in Arid Zone Ecology at the University of La Serena, Chile. His studies in herpetology began in 2004, as a collaborating assistant in the Herpetology area of the Bolivian Fauna Collection, then becoming part of the undergraduate thesis students, and then an associate researcher. From there, he participated in various studies on diversity, taxonomy and herpetological ecology, resulting in numerous scientific articles, book chapters and illustrated guides. His studies cover different fields from new species description, phylogeny, diversity studies, and management. Currently his PhD research is focused on the evolution and diversification of a family of Andean lizards.

Plants

David Villalba Vargas

Animal technician and beekeeper with extensive experience in evaluation methods of highland flora and fauna. He researches topics related to biodiversity in Andean ecosystems with the MEDMIN Foundation. With knowledge on high Andean vegetation, puna, Chaco-Serrano forest, montane and dry forests, as well as the Amazon, he recently worked on the orchids of Madidi Park with Wildlife Conservation Society, and the National Herbarium of Bolivia. He has some book chapters and scientific publications.

Plants

Laura Moya H.

Agronomist with extensive experience in ethnobotany, biomass methods, installation of permanent and temporary plots. Elaboration of baselines related to flora and fauna in the highlands for different organizations MEDMIN, ECEBOL. Works and investigates issues related to the protection of traditional knowledge of plant use, floristic composition and management of some useful species such as jatata, asaí, majo, orchids with Wildlife Conservation Society, National Herbarium of Bolivia, and Missouri Botanical Garden. With a knowledge of the high Andean vegetation, puna, montane forests, Amazonian and dry valleys. She has published book chapters and scientific articles, and recently collaborated with the project of adaptive strategies of summer annuals in the semiarid regions of Bolivia.

Mamíferos pequeños

Marisol Hidalgo

A biologist from the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba, throughout her professional life, she has been interested in working with mammals, especially small mammals. She began her knowledge of rodents as a research assistant at the Biodiversity and Genetics Center, with its reference collection, where she learned to value scientific collections. She later worked at the Alcide d'Orbigny Museum of Natural History, supporting the Bolivian Bats project, where she reinforced the value of scientific collections and museums as institutions that conduct science and preserve Bolivia's natural heritage. Thanks to her work at the d'Orbigny Museum, she acquired more skills and training to conduct research and conservation, developing the Andean Forests and Small Mammals Conservation Project in Bolivia. She worked in scientific collections for 10 years and conducted field surveys to work with small mammals. She was in charge of the Mastozoology Department of the Alcide d'Orbigny Museum of Natural History in Cochabamba and currently, at the invitation of the National Museum of Natural History in La Paz, she is the researcher assigned to the Mastozoology Section for three months.

Mammals

María Viscarra

A biologist from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, in 2005 she joined the Wildlife Conservation Society as a volunteer and carried out small projects on the diet and photo-identification of wildlife mammals. Since 2008 she is a permanent staff member of WCS and develops research within the Landscape Species Project, determining the densities and abundances of jaguar (Panthera onca) and other species of medium and large mammals. Thanks to this project, she has so far participated in 27 survey campaigns, with a duration of 35 to 100 days of field work. In order to raise awareness among children, young people and adults in urban and rural areas in the north of La Paz and also in the city of La Paz, she has carried out several awareness-raising events on the importance of wildlife conservation.

Mammals

Herminio Ticona

He was born in Athun Ayllu Amarete, Bautista Saavedra Province, Department of La Paz, Bolivia. He is passionate about nature and scientific research. Since 1999 he has worked for the Wildlife Conservation Society supporting different research projects: Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus) surveys, radio telemetry of the Andean bear and the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), transects to determine the distribution of the Andean bear and other mammal species, Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) census, jaguar (Panthera onca) and other mammal camera trap campaigns, control of damage caused by wildlife in cornfields and domestic animals, collection and conservation of biological samples in sheep, alpacas and vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) for the diagnosis of diseases. He has also conducted several community workshops to train and disseminate information on human-wildlife conflict management.

Communication

Guiomar de Mesa

Guiomar is a photographer who holds a degree in photography from the University of Palermo (Argentina). She has worked as an independent photographer, graphic designer and as assistant director in a cinema production. In 2009 she exhibited her photographic collection called "Alientos" at "Nota" Gallery. Her work has been published by different magazines. She has cooperated and written the chapter on Bolivian Photography History published in José De Mesa and Teresa Gisbert's book "Historia del Arte en Bolivia" (2012). She is currently working at Cosas magazine as author of fashion and design articles. Being a photographer has driven her to take interest in wild life photography.

Communication

Cecilia Flores Turdera

Bióloga de la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. La mayor parte de su vida profesional la ha desarrollado en la institución Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Ha realizado su tesis en dieta de jaguar (Panthera onca) y puma (Puma concolor) en el sector de los ríos Tuichi, Hondo y Quiquibey dentro de las áreas protegidas de Madidi y Pilón Lajas el año 2008 con WCS. Entre el año 2011 y 2012 ha trabajado en la difusión de información sobre los lucachis endémicos del Beni en los pueblos y comunidades de Santa Rosa y Reyes, proyecto financiado por Conservation Leadership Programme y apoyado por WCS. En el año 2014 a liderado el proyecto sobre Abrocoma boliviensis en el Centro de Biodiversidad y Genética de la Universidad Mayor de San Simón. A partir del año 2016 hasta la fecha, trabaja en el componente de Seguimiento y Comunicación de WCS con la sistematización del archivo fotográfico, manejo de redes sociales y página web, y ha apoyado proyectos de ciencia ciudadana como Reto Ciudad Naturaleza.

Communication

Omar Torrico

Biologist graduated from the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. He has a Master's degree in forest management and climate change from TU Dresden, Germany. He worked on his undergraduate thesis at Alianza Gato Andino, with a Darwin Initiative grant, researching carnivore ecology in the Eduardo Avaroa Reserve. He deepened his knowledge in climate models and geographic information systems during his Master's degree, which was funded by the DAAD. He has supported projects such as IE's database of introduced species in Bolivia, periurban carnivores of La Paz, poster design for Vesty Pakos Zoo and volunteering at Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). From 2014 to date, he works at WCS as Head of Biodiversity Monitoring and Climate Change Management. Additionally, he contributes with the WCS photo and video archive, social media and website management, supporting citizen science initiative projects.

Calle Jaime Mendoza No 987, Torre Soleil
Zona San Miguel, La Paz-Bolivia

Casilla: 3 – 35181 SM

(591-2) 2117969, 2126905

wcsbolivia@wcs.org

Scientific report 2015

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