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Valentina Gómez-Bahamón
Email: valentinagb[@]vt.edu
I am an Assistant Professor at the Biological Sciences Department at Virginia Tech. I am also a research affiliate at The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, and at SELVA: Research for conservation in the Neotropics, Colombia.  

Curriculum Vitae

I study how the evolution of behavioral strategies can drive population divergence and promote a cascade of correlated evolutionary processes that can enhance speciation. My research has focused primarily on switches among migratory and non-migratory behavior in birds. I am interested in understanding the drivers of these switches and the consequences to phenotypic evolution, speciation and the propensity of extinction under past and current environmental conditions. 
Postdoctoral Associates 
Jeremy Summers 
I study how variation in the environment and individual fitness over space and time ultimately shape population dynamics and structure, and even entire species ranges. I have used this mechanistic and multidimensional approach to research how birds respond to anthropogenic landscape change. I am interested in why some populations can persist despite increasing isolation and decreasing genetic diversity, or why some species can utilize entirely new habitats to expand their ranges while others decline.
Graduate students 
Martín Pérez
I am interested in understanding the underlying mechanisms promoting speciation and population differentiation. Currently, I am studying the impact and influence of contact and hybrid zones on the genetic and morphological diversity in widespread passerine species distributed across the Nearctic and the Neotropics. I’m also interested in plumages, molt strategies, population genomics, field ornithology, and the life history of Neotropical birds.
Co-advised with Juan Ignacio Areta
Matthew Armstrong 
I am interested in the behavioral ecology of birds as well as the evolution of their behavior. I am looking forward to studying behavioral differences among populations with varying migratory strategies during my PhD. In addition to spending my free time climbing and photographing wildlife, I am also passionate about species conservation and previously studied genetic signatures of hybridization in the rare North American gray-headed chickadee.
Undergraduate Students 
Kiersten Link
I am interested in parasites in birds, and how they differ between migratory and non-migratory species in the same areas. I have recently become more interested in how much the speciation and phylogeny of birds is either unknown or misunderstood. As well as learning more about how we identify and differentiate between a new species versus a hybrid of existing species.
Nathan Williams 
I am interested in evolutionary biology and environmental conservation. I enjoy learning about the relationships between birds and their environments, and how the evolution of these relationships can inform us about effective conservation strategies. I am also interested in the process of speciation and the evolutionary history of the birds we see today.
Research Affiliates 
Cándida Caicedo
Interested in studying the interaction between birds and plants, especially feeding interactions, but also other aspects of the biology of these two groups. Currently, she is working on a project to understand the importance of different characteristics of vegetation in natural savannas for bird behavior. 
Co-advised with Sergio Estrada-Villegas
 
Maira Holguín-Ruiz
Passionate about ornithology, she specializes in bird observation. During her undergraduate studies, she focused on the physiological and behavioral aspects of migration at stopover sites in northern Colombia. For the past four years, she has been part of the SELVA team, tracking migratory birds through observations, banding, and telemetry in the Llanos foothills and the Caribbean coast. Currently, she is working on a project with Cándida to understand why birds select specific sites within natural savannas.
Co-advised with Sergio Estrada-Villegas
Former Postdoctoral Associates  
María Emilia Rebollo
Currently leading a Vulture Survey project as part of the et al blog 
Former Undergraduate Researchers 
Gabriel Guillermo Bermudez  
Undergraduate thesis: Cambios en la morfología y rendimiento aerodinámico en alas de una especie de ave andina en respuesta a un gradiente altitudinal: estudio de dinámica computacional de fluidos integrando modelos biológicos en 3D
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Co-Advised with Dr. Elkin Tenorio and Dr. Oscar Laverde 
 
David Ricardo Caro 
Undergraduate thesis: Kinematics of an aerial display in the Fork-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus savana savana) during breeding season
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Co-Advised with Dr. Oscar Laverde 

Bryam Mateus 
Undergraduate thesis: Divergence of beak morphology, foraging behavior and diet among migratory and year-round resident Fork-tailed Flycatchers (Tyrannus savana) 
Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Co-Advised with Dr. Carlos Daniel Cadena 
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