My interest is working with native species from Bolivia, especially camelids and birds. In my bachelor thesis in Biology, I worked with the in vitro culture of a Bromelia epiphytic species. I have worked in that field and genetics with other native Bolivian species, like Cacao.
In my Master's degree project, I worked with camelids, using mitochondrial and Y chromosome sequences to identify hybrids and introgression between llamas and Alpacas.
My PhD project focuses on the genomic analysis of three species of South American camelids: llamas, alpacas, and vicunas. The aims are related to understanding better the phylogenetic relationship between species and the population structure of each one. We will also look for genomic regions related to productive (meat or fiber) and adaptive traits in llamas and alpacas. With this information, we expect to contribute to the knowledge of genomics of this three species population in Bolivia to support future management and conservation programs.
The project is developed in collaboration with the Molecular Biology Institute at Mayor de San Andres University in Bolivia and the HGEN department at SLU.