Ernesto Mai
Master in biology
ernesto.mai@unine.ch
Interests
Ever since I can recall, I was always drawn towards nature and animals, in particular those who disgusted my parents the most. As a child I loved toads, frogs, lizards and spiders. These interests never faded (despite my mother’s hopes). I therefore pursued an academic path that would allow me to study those fascinating animals. I went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in biology. This allowed me to increase my expertise in herpetofauna. As part of my APP Bachelor projects, I had the chance to study anuran community compositions in the Budongo forest in Uganda. That experience cemented my desire to work on amphibian ecology and conservation.
Main Topics
- Anurans
- Amphibians conservation
- Ecology
- Herpetology
Project
For my Master thesis project, I will work in collaboration with Hernan Dario Granda Rodriguez, professor at the University of Cundinamarca, to analyze the taxonomic and functional diversity of the amphibian assemblage along an altitudinal gradient in the northwestern sector of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in the state of Colombia. I will carry out surveys at different locations and at different altitudes inside the mountain range.
The objectives of the project are to evaluate the taxonomic and functional diversity of amphibians and their relationship with environmental variables and vegetation structure along the altitudinal gradient, determine the intraspecific variation of amphibian functional traits along the altitudinal gradient, and generate conservation strategies suggestions for amphibians present in the altitudinal gradient.
