Juliana Valencia Ruiz
Post-Doc Researcher
I started conducting research when doing my studies in Biology at the University of Extremadura (Spain). My research interests focused on behavioural and evolutionary ecology. I participated mainly in two research lines: (i) Mating systems and sexual selection, and (ii) Cooperative breeding.
My Ph.D. research was carried on the cooperative breeding behaviour of the Azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cooki). Along my career I have obtained several grants and contracts in different research centers (University of Extremadura, Spain; University of Pisa, Italy; CNRS in Paris, France; CSIC in Almería, Spain).
I have been studying cooperative breeding in birds for a long time, but still, the reason why helpers contribute to rearing other birds' offspring has remained elusive. My principal research interest now focus on the benefits gained by non-kin helpers and the relative roles of indirect and direct benefits, which represents the main current challenge to explain the evolution of cooperatively breeding systems.
Click here to watch a documentary about my work.