I am a community ecologist studying interactions between micro- and macro-organisms, the biogeography of microorganisms, biofouling processes, and the use of microorganisms as indicators of water quality and toxicity in aquatic ecosystems. My interdisciplinary research integrates molecular ecology, microscopy, and fieldwork.

• Interaction between micro- and macroorganisms: This research focuses on comparing patterns and disentangling interactions between macroscopic and microscopic marine organisms, examining both trophic and non-trophic relationships in marine intertidal zones.

• Biogeography of microorganisms: Currently, I am working on a global eDNA synthesis using the MiCoDa database (https://micoda.idiv.de/v1/aboutUs), created by Dr. Stephanie Jurburg. MiCoDa is the largest 16S rRNA eDNA dataset available on GBIF (https://doi.org/10.15468/ver9ne). This work contributes to multiple global synthesis projects across soil, freshwater, host-associated, and rhizosphere microbiomes, as well as to the development of bioinformatics tools.

• Biofouling processes: This study focused on sessile communities in wave-exposed subtidal environments of the southeastern Pacific, examining colonization and succession patterns, the effectiveness of materials and antifouling coatings, and their implications for aquaculture and renewable wave energy infrastructure.

• Microorganisms as indicators of water quality and toxicity: This research focused on harmful algal blooms in freshwater ecosystems, documenting the presence of toxic cyanobacteria in sediments and at the sediment–water interface of a tropical drinking water reservoir. I also contributed to studies verifying and validating microbiological methods for detecting and quantifying water quality indicators and pathogens in drinking and natural waters, including Clostridium perfringens, Legionella spp., total coliforms, and Escherichia coli.

• Jurburg S, Arboleda-Baena C, Kazem A, Frøslev T, Jeppesen T. 2025. Microbial Community Database (MiCoDa). A curated global 16S rRNA gene amplicon dataset from all environments. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ver9ne accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-10-30

SCIENTIFIC
2025 Georg Forster Research Fellowship Programme for Postdocs, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany
2024 sDiv Synthesis Centre Postdoctoral Fellowship for Funded sDiv Project, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Germany
2023 Whitman Center Early Career Fellowship. Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Chicago. USA (Granted but not accepted)
2022 Microbial Diversity Course Financial Award. Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Chicago. USA.
2019 Complementary Benefit – International Doctoral Internships 2019. CONICYT, Chile.
2019 Assistance to events scholarship for PhD Students. CONICYT, Chile.
2018 ECODIM-X Scholarship. Regional Network for Education, Training and Research in microbial Ecology of oceanic Habitats. The Austral Summer Institute of the Universidad de Concepción, Chile.
2016 - 2020 PhD National Scholarship. CONICYT, Chile.
2015 Summer School Scholarship UC 2015. Biological Science. Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile
2011 First place, Biology. Admissions and Registration, University of Antioquia, Colombia.
2010 University award for academic excellence. University of Antioquia, Colombia.

ARTISTIC ACTIVITIES
2017 Project "Proteus". Artifica la UC, the Artistic Creation Contest of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile. Web Site: https://artesycultura.uc.cl/en/proyecto/proteus-2/

2025 (Jun) Guest Teacher. Lecture: Biogeography and Macroecology of Microorganisms.
Course: Macroecology under Global Change. Responsible: Dr. Marten Winter. Master of Science, International M.Sc. Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution. Universität Leipzig, Germany
2023 (Nov) Guest Teacher. Lecture: Principal Component Analysis.
Course: Topics in Ecology, covering Principal Component Analysis, Canonical Correspondence Analysis, Redundancy Analysis, Cluster Analysis, and Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling in R. Responsible Professor: Dr. Gilmar Perbiche Neves. Postgraduate Program in Ecology and Natural Resources (PPGE). Universiade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil.
2022 (Oct) Guest Teacher. Lecture: Network Analyses.
Course: Microbiomes Analysis Course. Responsible Professor: Dr. Hugo Sarmento. Postgraduate Program in Ecology and Natural Resources (PPGE). Universiade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Brazil.
2021 (Apr–Dec) Adjunct Teacher. Course: Microbial ecology. Bachelor’s Program in Industrial and Environmental Microbiology. University of Antioquia, Colombia.
2017-2018-2019 (May) Teaching Assistant. Course: Ecology community fundamentals. Responsible Professor: Dr. Sergio Navarrete. Ph.D. of Biological Sciences, Ecology program. Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile.
2015 (Aug–Dec) Adjunct Teacher. Course: Ecology. Bachelor’s Program in Zootechnical and Agricultural Business Administration. La Sallista University Corporation, Colombia.
2013 (Jan–May) Adjunct Teacher. Course: Biological Photography. Bachelor’s Program in Biology, University of Antioquia
2012 (May-Jun) Adjunct Teacher. Course: Biological Photography. Bachelor’s Program in Biology, University of Antioquia
2011 (Aug–Dec) Adjunct Teacher. Course: Biological Photography. Bachelor’s Program in Biology, University of Antioquia