Environmental Leadership Program

Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez is a doctoral student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, where her research focuses on the effects of agricultural land uses on forest bird populations, as well as testing monitoring techniques to determine how land use patterns around protected areas influences their capability to maintain current levels of biodiversity. Viviana is also working with local indigenous communities and The Nature Conservancy in Costa Rica to asses the conservation value of Indigenous Reserves in her study region. She has also served as a research assistant for several avian conservation projects, including a project with the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. Previously, Viviana held numerous volunteer positions at biological stations in Costa Rica, where her work focused on government and community outreach.