Curriculum

VRC updated August 2021

Education

● Graduate student in Integrative Biology. University of California, Berkeley, USA. August 2019 to currently active

● Master’s degree in Science Communication. University of Barcelona, Spain. September 2017 to July 2019

● Master’s degree in Biological Sciences. Biology (MSc.). University of los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. August 2014 to May 2017

● Bachelor in Biology. Biology (BSc.). National University of Colombia, Bogotá. August 2008 to December 2013

Positions held

● University of California, Berkeley. Graduate student instructor. August 2019 to currently active

● DBGen Ocular Genomics. Communication and Research Assistant. September 2017 to July 2019

● Santillana publisher. Textbook writer. June 2017 to January 2018

● Santillana publisher. Textbook writer. August 2016 to October 2016

● University of the Andes, Bogota. Graduate student researcher. January 2016 to May 2017

● University of the Andes, Bogota. Graduate student instructor. Aug 2014 to Nov 2015

● Colombian Institute for the Evaluation of Education ICFES. Exam writer. Nov 2013 to currently active

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V., Westeen, E. P., Frederick, J., Amini, S., Wait, D., Achmadi, A. S., … Tarvin, R. D. (2022, February 4). A set of principles and practical suggestions for equitable fieldwork in biology. EcoEvoRxiv. ecoevorxiv.org/uszd7

● Montana, K. O., Ramírez-Castañeda, V., & Tarvin, R. D. (2022). Characterizing Potential Tetrodotoxin Resistance in Domain IV of the Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Nav1.4 of Pacific Chorus Frogs, Pseudacris regilla. bioRxiv, 2022.01.22.475505. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.22.475505

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V. (2020). Disadvantages in preparing and publishing scientific papers caused by the dominance of the English language in science: The case of Colombian researchers in biological sciences. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238372

● Márquez, R., Ramírez-Castañeda, V., & Amézquita, A. (2019). Does batrachotoxin autoresistance coevolve with toxicity in Phyllobates poison-dart frogs? Evolution, 73(2), 390-400. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13672

● Beltrán, I.+, Ramírez-Castañeda, V.+, Rodríguez-López, C.+, Lasso, E., & Amézquita, A. (2019). Dealing with hot rocky environments: Critical thermal maxima and locomotor performance in Leptodactylus lithonaetes (Anura: Leptodactylidae). Herpetological Journal, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.33256/hj29.3.155161

● Gonzàlez-Duarte, R., de Castro-Miró, M., Tuson, M., Ramírez-Castañeda, V., Gils, R. V., & Marfany, G. (2019). Scaling New Heights in the Genetic Diagnosis of Inherited Retinal Dystrophies. In Retinal Degenerative Diseases (pp. 215-219). Springer, Cham.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27378-1_35

● Flechas, S. V., Blasco-Zúñiga, A., Merino-Viteri, A., Ramírez-Castañeda, V., Rivera, M., & Amézquita, A. (2017). The effect of captivity on the skin microbial symbionts in three Atelopus species from the lowlands of Colombia and Ecuador. PeerJ, 5, e3594. PMID: 28785515. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3594

● Márquez, R., Mejia-Vargas, D., Palacios-Rodriguez, P., Ramírez-Castañeda, V., & Amézquita, A. (2017). A new species of Andinobates (Anura: Dendrobatidae) from the Urabá region of Colombia. Zootaxa, 4290(3), 531-546. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4290.3.7

(+) Authors contributed equally

Honors & awards

● Outstanding GSI Award. GSI Teaching and Resource Center. University of California Berkeley. Spring semester 2021.

● Second place honorable mention for the EE Williams Research Grant. The herpetologists’ league. Spring semester 2020.

● New Talents in Sociolinguistics Award for Master’s thesis in Science Communication. Catalan Sociolinguistic Society. University of Barcelona. Barcelona, Spain. Spring semester 2019.

● Academic Excellence Distinction. National University of Colombia. Bogotá, Colombia. Tuition exemption. 2008-2013

● Best Undergraduate Thesis in Molecular Biology Award. National University of Colombia. Bogotá, Colombia. Spring semester 2014.

Scholarships, fellowships and grants

● E.E. Williams Research Grant. USA 2021. Herpetologist’ league. 1000 USD. 1 year.

● Tinker Field Research Award. USA 2021. Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS). 1500 USD. 1 year.

● Roger Conant Grants-in-Herpetology award. USA 2021. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR). 500 USD. 1 year.

● P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship. USA 2020-2021. International Chapter of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. 12500 USD. 2 years.

● Museum of Vertebrate Zoology’s Carl B. Koford Fund. USA 2020-2021. Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley. 3500 USD. 2 years.

● Grants-in-Aid of Research (GIAR). USA 2020. Berkeley Chapter of Sigma Xi. 500 USD. 6 months.

● Evolution Meetings - Montpellier, France 2018. International Committee Travel Award. Society for the Study of Evolution. 500 USD. 4 days.

● Seed Research Award for Master Students 2017. Department of Biological Sciences. University of the Andes, Bogota, Colombia. 1280 USD. 6 months.

● Scholarship for Phylogenetic Tools for Comparative Biology: PCM workshop 2016. University of Massachusetts Boston. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Travel covered. 7 days.

● IV National Congress of Zoology, Cartagena, Colombia. Scholarship for Latin-American Students 2014. 100 USD. 4 days.

Thesis

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V. (2019). Disadvantages of writing, reading, publishing and presenting scientific papers caused by the English linguistic hegemony: The case of Colombian Ph.D. in biological sciences. Master’s thesis. University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V. (2017). Origin of mutations in the NaV gene family associated with resistance to neurotoxins in snake (Erythrolamprus sp.) predators of dart poison frogs (Dendrobatidae). Master’s thesis. University of the Andes, Bogota, Colombia.

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V.(2014). Batrachotoxin (BTX) resistance in the snake (Erythrolamprus epinephelus) predator of poison-dart frogs (Phyllobates): Sequence description of the muscular voltage-gated sodium channel. Undergraduate thesis. National University of Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.

Science communication, outreach and other not peer-reviewed publications

● Coauthor from Tarvin Lab project called Amphibioscope. Daily horoscope bot that infuses AI-generated horoscopes with amphibian life-history data from AmphibiaWeb for science communication and entertainment purposes.

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V.(2019). Ants war. Jot Down Kids.

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V.(2018). The Spider-Man flight. Jot Down Kids.

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V. (2018). Shiny, tiny and toxic! – Dart poison frog. Jot Down Kids.

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V. (2016-2019). Recommended articles – Evolutionary morphology and physiology. Colombian Society of Evolution (COLEVOL). Boletín Colombiano de Biología Evolutiva.

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V. (2015). Top 3: Extreme animal epidemies. Portal Virtual ANURA Ciencia

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V. (2015). Three steps to understand Darwin thoughts. Portal Virtual ANURA Ciencia

● Ramírez-Castañeda, V. (2015). Andinobates fulguritus (Dendrobatidae). Guide of amphibians from Valle del Cauca. Cali, Colombia Zoo. (Peer-reviewed).

● Barbosa-Rojas+, A., Castro-Fajardo+, A., Castro-Ramírez+, S., González-Acero+, L., Ramírez-Castañeda+, V., Goméz-Cano+, A., et al. (Eds.) (2012). Continental Ecology on the Tayrona Natural Park.. Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

● Tejiendo Territorio CEAT. (2011). Gold-mining problems on the Colombian Andean Cordillera. La Sierra, Cauca - Colombia

(+) Authors contributed equally

Press

● Sofia Quaglia. 2022. Lost in translation: is research into species being missed because of a language barrier?. The Guardian. US edition.

● Valeria Ramírez Castañeda. 2022.Inglês como uma barreira para a ciência. Merida Publishers. Brazil.

● Science editorial. 2020. Not writing in English has been a barrier for Colombian scientists . El Espectador. Colombia

● Robert Sanders. 2020. Is English the lingua franca of science? Not for everyone.. Berkeley news. University of California Berkeley.

● Pérez-Ortega, R. 2020. Science’s English dominance hinders diversity—but the community can work toward change. Science. doi:10.1126/science.caredit.abf4697

Invited speaker

● Panelist - “Language Bias as a Barrier in Ecological Sciences”. ESA Vital Connections in Ecology 2021. August 4, 2021.

● Panelist - “Decolonizing Evolution”. Evolution 2021. June 16, 2021.

● Speaker - “Dominance of English language as a barrier for science”. ComSciCon en Español 2021. June 13, 2021.

● Panelist - “What are the main barriers to succeed in brain research in Latin America?”. ALBA Network. February 24, 2021.

● Panelist - “Science for all: why and how to do science communication”. Club Eco-Evo Latin America. April 26, 2021.

● Speaker - “Challenges in academia: English as a Second Language”. Purdue University Latino Cultural Center. April 14, 2021.

● Speaker - “Dominance of English language as a barrier for science”. Global Health Innovation Club (GHIC), University of Wisconsin - Madison. February 19, 2021.

● Speaker - “Dominance of English language as a barrier for science”. The Center for Theoretical and Evolutionary Genetics Seminar (CTEG). February 15, 2021.

● Speaker - “Disadvantages in preparing and publishing scientific papers caused by the dominance of the English language in science: The case of Colombian researchers in biological sciences”. Ballena que habla de ciencia. Universidad de Concepción. November 25, 2020.

DEI projects and support

● Organizer- Integrative Biology Department sci-comm mini-grants. University of California Berkeley. Octuber 2021.

● Organizer- Webinar “Impacts of the use of colonial languages in Latin American science communication”. Inclusive SciComm Symposium 2021 & Mira quién habla de ciencia. Octuber 2021

● Mentor- Girls in STEAM. Maloka, Science & Tecnology Ministry. Colombia. June 2021

● Organizer- Webinar “Building Science for Peace: Interdisciplinary experiences from Colombia”. Sponsors: Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), FOCALI, SIANI, Colombian Society of Evolution (COLEVOL). June 2021

● Organizer of webinar “Conspiracies against the reconstruction of a NORMAL World”. Online conversations about art, activism, and pandemic. July 2020.

● Organizer of webinar “Racism in Science - Colombia, Brazil & USA”.. Students group “Guaches & Guarichas”. June 2020.

● Graduate Students Representative. Biological Science Department, University of the Andes, Bogotá. 2016

● Organizer- Blog on science-society relationship “Portal Virtual ANURA Ciencia”. November 2014 to November 2015

● Organizer- Non-profit pre-college “Colectivo EsCuadra Educativa”, Bogota. Volunteer instructor for workshops on environmental education, human rights, gender conflicts, chemistry, and biology. December 2010 to December 2015

● Organizer- Gold-mining problems workshop on the Colombian Andean Cordillera “Tejiendo Territorio CEAT” La Sierra, Cauca, Colombia. January 2011 to January 2012

Honors & awards

● Dario Alarcón Naforo

● Lizbeth García

● Katherine Montana

Conferences

Professional Development

Manuscripts review:

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