Daniel Vivas Barreto

Can you imagine living in the most biodiversity country in the world and the species are disappearing? Can you imagine never knowing that we have them because we never found them? Or worse, can you imagine believing a species to be extinct because no one has reported seeing one for years, but in reality, it was not extinct and we can still do something to prevent its extinction? These are my principal concerns that led me to work with them, these amazing and beautiful toads. These toads are not just important for the ecosystems they live in, but also for the people that live where they can be found. I would like to be part of the solution that can help bring them back.

I was born in Bogotá, Colombia, an amazing country with the largest numbers of amphibians in the world. I completed a bachelor’s degree in biology at the Universidad Nacional, Colombia. During my studies, I fell in love with amphibians, because they are one of the coolest groups – they have amazing shapes, crazy colors, and play a very important role in ecosystems as bioindicators. So, how not to love them?

After I finished my undergrad, I decided to start my masters in Biological Sciences at the Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia, to continue with my passion and work with frogs. Also, as part of my quest for knowledge, I started to work as the assistant curator of the reptile collection at the Museo de Historia Natural C.J. Marinkelle. I am also a member of the Atelopus Survival Initiative (ASI). Through this network and with ASI's support, I am sure that we will be able to implement this project with the collaboration of different stakeholders at local, national and international levels. Another important part of research for me is to work with local communities, learn from them and reciprocally share knowledge, because science should not only stay in academia but is part of everyone. Everyone can be a scientist, and scientists can learn from everyone.

August 2022