Milena Benavides Serrato
I am a marine biologist from the Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Colombia. I am a specialist in Echinodermata taxonomy. In my undergraduate thesis, I worked on the taxonomy, systematics, ecology, and zoogeography of deepwater echinoderms (300-500 m) throughout the Colombian Caribbean. By participating in exploration to shallow waters (20-70 and 100 m), it was possible to complete the inventory made earlier and get new findings.
I completed my master's degree at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, characterizing the echinoderms of shallow waters off Puerto Rico Island, completing the actual status of this group on the Caribbean Sea.
Currently, I’m doing my PhD at Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Caribbean Campus. In order to determine the influence of marine discontinuities previously known to other taxa to connectivity between natural populations of sea urchins, I’m determining the genetic structure and genetic flow of natural populations of two species in two scenarios, Greater Caribbean (Echinometra lucunter lucunter) and United Kingdom (Psammechinus miliaris).
I am interested in marine ecology, taxonomy and systematics of marine invertebrates, specially echinoderms of deep and shallow water. I have a broad experience in marine inventories and curation of marine collections.
