Otto Monge

I was born in Costa Rica, a worldwide biodiversity hotspot, so my contact with nature has always been very close. I truly believe that there is nothing more rewarding than studying the many aspects surrounding living organisms. Birds, in particular, caught my attention deeply while carrying out field projects as an undergrad. From that point onwards, there is nothing that makes me happier than to be surrounded by birds in their natural environment, either as a scientist or as a bird observer and enthusiast.

In this project, I am acting as a supervisor for Hersson’s master thesis. Just like his, my master’s degree was focused on wildlife management and conservation. I consider myself capable of executing scientific studies on wildlife with the purpose of designing measures directed towards its conservation. When I was about to start my master’s research project (the first conservation genetics work on a parrot species in Costa Rica), I was not aware of the importance of genetics. But working for six years now in a laboratory dedicated to conservation genetics has taught me the usefulness of molecular techniques to guide conservation efforts. Moreover, the first results from my investigation are being taken into consideration for the development of new local policies to better allocate resources for the conservation of the scarlet macaw. All of these is what I hope to transmit for the success of Hersson’s project; another pioneer study, in Costa Rica and across the Neotropical region, since no information about the genetic patterns of the endangered great-green macaw exists.

Information regarding the scarlet macaw conservation genetics project, which I started, as well as additional publications can be found here.

July 2016