Alberto Macias Duarte
alberto@email.arizona.edu

My concern about worldwide environmental deterioration led me to study Ecological Engineering in my home state of Sonora, Mexico. I obtained my bachelor’s degree in 1997 at Centro de Estudios Superiores del Estado de Sonora (CESUES). As an undergraduate student, I became involved in research evaluating biological control and population regulation of mosquitoes in Hermosillo, as well as population genetics in Desert Ironwood. My professional experience includes environmental impact assessment, ecological restoration, and monitoring of avian populations. I became interested in the ecology of birds after working with the Aplomado Falcon in desert grasslands of Chihuahua, Mexico, from 2000 to 2003. I studied Aplomado Falcons for my M.S. thesis at Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua (UACH) where I obtain a Master’s degree in Natural Resources Management. I arrived at the University of Arizona in the fall of 2003 to pursue a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology, under the supervision of Dr. Courtney Conway. I am interested in population ecology and habitat selection in birds, as well as applications of mathematics and statistics to Ecology. In addition, I have a strong fascination for deserts and dry tropical forests. My dissertation research will likely involve energy costs of incubation in Burrowing Owls and population dynamics of this species in the Lower Colorado River Valley in Mexico and the United States.

• Macías-Duarte, A., A. B. Montoya, W. G. Hunt, Alberto Lafon-Terrazas, and R. Tafanelli. 2004.  Reproduction, prey, and habitat of the Aplomado Falcon (Falco femoralis) in desert grasslands of Chihuahua, Mexico.  The Auk 121:1081-1093.