Doctoral internship of Colombian researcher at CATIE culminates in high-impact scientific publications on productive landscapes in the Amazon

• Experience confirms the commitment of the Graduate School to training young professionals seeking to generate scientific knowledge by integrating research, sustainability, and human development.

CATIE’s Graduate School continues to strengthen its position as a regional benchmark for the advanced training of young Latin American scientists. This is demonstrated by the experience of Jenniffer Tatiana Díaz-Cháux, a Colombian biologist and Ph.D. candidate in Natural Sciences and Sustainable Development at the University of the Amazon, who carried out a research internship at CATIE between September and December 2024.

During her stay, Jenniffer worked with Dr. Alejandra Martínez, Dr. Fernando Casanoves, and Dr. Alexander Velasquez-Valencia, with whom she successfully completed two scientific articles that provide key inputs for the conservation and sustainable management of Amazonian landscapes.

Díaz-Cháux chose CATIE motivated by its renowned track record in applied research with global impact and by the academic leadership of the professors at the Graduate School.

“I identified CATIE as an ideal space to strengthen my conceptual framework, improve data analysis, and enrich the projection of my answers to key research questions on biodiversity and ecosystem services,” Jenniffer expressed.

Scientific achievements

The internship allowed her to consolidate the statistical analyses of her doctoral thesis and strengthen her scientific writing skills, culminating in the publication of two articles in indexed international journals:

• Functional Diversity and Ecosystem Services of Birds in Productive Landscapes of the Colombian Amazon, published in Diversity, which addresses the functional diversity of birds as a pillar of ecological resilience in fragmented landscapes;
• Influence of Landscape Structure on Carbon Storage in Agroforestry Systems with Cacao and Silvopastoral Systems in the Colombian Amazon, recently published in PLOS One, which reveals how attributes such as heterogeneity, size, and shape of vegetation patches determine carbon sequestration and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Thanks to the generous and professional guidance of CATIE’s professors, we managed to write and publish these articles in high-impact journals, a significant achievement for my development as a researcher,” added Díaz-Cháux. She also highlighted that the internship allowed her to apply the knowledge acquired to her roles as a lecturer and researcher at the University of the Amazon, strengthening academic indicators and consolidating research lines focused on biodiversity conservation in the Amazon biome.

Unique opportunity at CATIE

For Jenniffer, publishing two articles during the internship represented an academic, institutional, and personal achievement, contributing to the collaborative work between CATIE and the University of the Amazon, and reaffirming the value of international academic networks.

“I encourage other doctoral students to seriously consider the opportunities offered by CATIE: it is an environment of excellence, where applied research is combined with a strong commitment to sustainability and international cooperation,” she emphasized.

This experience confirms the commitment of CATIE’s Graduate School to training young professionals who seek to generate scientific knowledge with global impact, integrating research, sustainability, and human development.