Glaucia (Glau) Del-Rio, PhD
PI, Curator of Ornithology
Email: g.delrio@ufl.edu
More info
I am a Brazilian field and museum ornithologist and evolutionary biologist passionate about Amazonian birds! I love going to the field and collecting specimens for museum collections. I enjoy using those collections in novel ways, tying genotypes to phenotypes to better understand how avian diversity forms. I truly believe that scientific collections and the study of non-model organisms can lead to key discoveries that may revolutionize science and transform how we see the world. My research interests include speciation, molecular and cellular biology, genomics, systematics, and spatial ecology. In my free time, I like to bird, sing, play music, draw, and reimagine spaces—especially museum collections—so that places once seen as closed and austere become open, welcoming, and full of life, making students and the public feel at ease and at home in learning spaces.
My life and career in pictures
Roberta Canton, PhD
Laboratory manager
Email: rdecastrocanton@ufl.edu
Roberta earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Universidade Federal do Amazonas and INPA, and completed her Ph.D. in Systematics, Ecology, and Evolution at Louisiana State University. Roberta loves working with bird coloration, and studied the genomics of structural feather coloration in manakins. She is deeply passionate about genetics and molecular biology, with extensive experience in DNA extraction, library preparation, transcriptomics, and electron microscopy. In the Del-Rio lab, Roberta is training students on the most advanced genomic techniques and setting up the cell culture lab. Roberta is also a great baker and always has a new delicious bird themed cake for special occasions in our lab!
Andy Kratter, PhD
Collections manager
Email: kratter@flmnh.ufl.edu
Andy has been part of the Florida Museum’s Ornithology collection for 28 years. He earned a Master of Science from UCLA and a Ph.D. in Systematics, Ecology, and Evolution from Louisiana State University. One of the most active ornithologists in Florida, Andy has collected birds around the world with a particular focus on tropical forest species. In Florida, he established the Loon Watch program, engaging the state’s birdwatching community to study the migration patterns of Common Loons across the peninsula. Beyond Florida, Andy was one of the most active members of the North American Classification Committee for more than 30 years. Over the course of his career, he described several new bird species to science as well as an entirely new genus of frogmouth from the Solomon Islands. Besides serving as a bird wizard, and our collections specialist, Andy also teaches our students how to prep specimens and curate them.
Huy Truong
PhD student, teaching assistant Biology
Bachelor of Science Cornell University
Email: truong.huy@ufl.edu
I got my Bachelor’s from Cornell University where I worked at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. There I developed research with phylogenetics, systematics, and population genetics of Vireolanius and sparrows. I am fascinated by the patterns and processes of speciation in birds, with a particular interest in tying the consequences of genomic architecture to population genetics and unique phenotypes that may underlie divergence. My interests seek to integrate molecular biology, computational methods, fieldwork, and museum collections in novel ways, primarily informed by natural history.
Enrico Lopes Breviglieri
Master’s student
Bachelor of Science Universidade do Estado de São Paulo
Email: enricolopesbrevi@ufl.edu
I am a Master’s student in Zoology at São Paulo State University (UNESP, Botucatu campus) in Brazil and a Visiting Scholar in the Del-Rio Lab at the Florida Museum of Natural History. I also have experience in bioacoustic analysis, teaching, and science education. My current research focuses on the systematics and genomic architecture of the Piculus flavigula woodpecker complex. Working with the Del-Rio Lab has strengthened my skills in population genomics, as it is where I have incorporated whole-genome sequencing into a broader research framework that also includes morphometrics, plumage color quantification, and machine learning–based acoustic analyses to clarify taxonomic boundaries and uncover cryptic diversity.
Mia Keriazes
Curatorial assistant, field technician, assistant bander
Bachelor of Science University of Florida
Email: amelia.keriazes@ufl.edu
I am from Florida and really enjoy fieldwork and brown birds! I am a current Curatorial and Banding Assistant and have been in Glaucia’s Lab for over a year now. I have my bachelor’s in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, with a minor in entomology. Most of my research has been assisting in the ongoing projects of the lab, helping with the bird observatory since its opening here at UF, and preparing specimens to be used for further research. My research interests include behavior, morphology, tropical ecology, and species conservation.
Preston Bertka-Ballard
Curatorial assistant, field technician, assistant bander
Undergraduate Student Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Email: preston.bertkaba@ufl.edu
I am an Undergraduate Student at the University of Florida in my last semester, obtaining my degree in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. My involvement in the Del-Rio lab has focused on working as a curatorial assistant in the Ornithology collection at the Florida Museum, working on research using museum specimens of Eastern Towhees to reassess the standing of the subspecies within this complex by implementing modern approaches of classification like metric learning tools and working to deepen our understanding of the genetics of this complex, and banding with the University of Florida Bird Observatory.
