Aberdeen PhD researcher to speak at UN Science Summit

Cristina Rueda Uribe, from the University’s School of Biological Sciences, will present reflections about generating and sharing biodiversity data at the event, which is looking at the role and contribution of science to attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on Thursday (September 28). 

Cristina’s research is focused on the causes and consequences of animal movement in the context of landscape connectivity and conservation. 

She explained: “I am currently studying the spatial dynamics of animals in tropical mountains, focused on hummingbirds and their role as pollinators. Having a better understanding about how animals with key ecological roles such as pollination move and deal with habitats that have been degraded or fragmented is important to avoid collapses of ecosystem functioning, gene flow between patches and, ultimately, local extinctions. 

“One part of my research has involved setting up and testing an automated tracking system that allows us to generate very large amounts of movement data for small animals in the endemic and highly diverse high-mountain ecosystems of the Northern Andes in Colombia.  

“For these ecosystems and species, virtually no movement data has been generated before, so setting up and using technology in new ways to generate this kind of data is very exciting. We have developed this system inside a National Park in Colombia, working hand-in-hand with local researchers and official environmental agencies.” 

Cristina will share her experience of generating, using and sharing FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data in Latin America, considering the influence of commercial services, global data systems and new technologies.  

“I am thrilled to have been invited to take part in the discussion alongside a fantastic panel of other Latin American researchers of biodiversity, so we can talk about the challenges and opportunities of biodiversity data in the region.” 

Cristina’s talk is taking place virtually from 9am to 11am on Thursday, September 28. Attending SSUNGA78 is free, but do not forget to register beforehand in the following link: 

For more information and to register for the event, visit the event website.