Viviana Vidal Astudillo

Research Leader at VIDAL & ASTUDILLO Ltda.

January 6, 2022

Profile and skills

My university training and professional experience have enabled me to direct, plan, coordinate, evaluate and execute basic ornithological and ecological research in terrestrial ecosystems, as well as programs for monitoring, prevention and recovery of ecosystems and threatened species. Programs in which I have been involved before and after receiving my degree with an emphasis on the birdlife of the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia.

One of the things I enjoy most about my profession is the breadth of fields to explore, the need for constant learning, exchanging ideas with academic and community experts. I am interested in research and conservation work that involves local communities.

My academic interests are focused on: Landscape ecology and planning. Restoration of fragmented landscapes. Conservation biology of wild bird populations. Ecology of urban bird populations.

Professional experience

Association for the study and conservation of aquatic birds in Colombia - Calidris

I have been part of the technical team of the Calidris Association since June 2013. I started as a researcher in the project Environmental Assessment of the wetland complex of the municipality of San Sebastián in agreement with the World Wide Fund for Nature-WWF, to later carry out the project “Environment Canada-Enhancing Biodiversity through Working Landscapes in Colombia ”funded by Foreign Affairs Trade and Development Canada. My participation focuses on the investigation of neotropical migratory birds and inter-institutional relations as well as with local communities that work in productive systems in the Colombian Andes.

Río Cali Association - ARC

I began my relationship in 2005 in the Río Cali Association as the founder of the local Titiribí Bird Observers Group so that years later it would be the hotbed of new bird watchers that I have trained. I have developed research projects in the area of influence of the organization such as amphibian, reptile and bird inventories, as well as providing research advice on community initiative projects. I have led high-impact processes in the local community such as the creation and promotion of the initiative Mapalina Bird Watching Tours 2006, the management and participation in triannual Biodiversity Seminars, the coordination of Christmas Bird Censuses in the area of Círculo de Occidente in conjunction with the Calidris Association and the Farallones de Cali Circle which I founded in 2012 on behalf of the Río Cali Association.

Wildlife Conservation Society - WCS Colombia

I joined as a volunteer in 2007 in the endemic endemic birds project of the middle valley of the Cauca river, then in 2008 I participated in the informative workshop and as a volunteer in the project Combine technical and economic efforts to determine the affectation generated by avian influenza in aquatic birds of the wetland ecosystems of Valle del Cauca, to later be an associate researcher in the same project and later would be part of the main team of the Inventories of Fauna and Flora in Relicts of Dry Forest in Areas of Amaime River, Cauca Valley project.

During my tenure, I gained extensive experience in coordinating and executing projects for the characterization of birds, standardized techniques for counting and capturing birds, ringing, collecting tissue samples, as well as in community participation workshops, proposing conservation proposals. and teamwork. As additional responsibilities in the projects that I participated were designing, administering, debugging and analyzing the databases.

Publications and Reports

Palacio, RD, Vidal-Astudillo, V., Cárdenas G. and J. Luna-Solarte. 2017. Birds of the municipality of Santiago de Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Colombian Biota. 18: (2).
Vidal-Astudillo, V. 2013. Bird Check list of Club Campestre of Cali and surroundings. Club Campestre de Cali, Asociación Río Cali-ARC and Mapalina-Birding Trails. Santiago de Cali, Colombia. Graphic Images Printing. 52 p.
Garcés-Restrepo, M., CA Saavedra-Rodríguez, G. Cárdenas, V. Vidal-Astudillo, F. Ayerbe- Quiñones, LF Ortega, JE López-Solarte, R. Johnston-González & CA Ríos-Franco. 2012. Range Expansion and Ecological Data of the Red-Crowned Woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus) in the Cauca River Valley, Colombia. Colombian Ornithology. 12: 54-60.
Vidal-Astudillo, V. & Y. Cifuentes-Sarmiento. 2012. Turdus obsoletus. Pp. 491-492. In: Naranjo, LG, JD Amaya, D. Eusse-González & Y. Cifuentes-Sarmiento (Eds.). Guide of Migrant Species of Biodiversity in Colombia. Birds. Vol. 1. Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development-MADS and WWF Colombia. Bogotá DC, Colombia. 708 p.
Wagner-Wagner, C., V. Vidal-Astudillo and FL Cantera-Garrido. 2008. Community advances in the Conservation of IBA San Antonio-Km18 Cloud Forest. Bulletin Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología-SAO. 18 (1) Special supplement. XX National Encounter of Ornithology-ENO.
Cárdenas, G. & V. Vidal-Astudillo. 2010. Bird list of Urban Eco-Parks Bataclan and The Pisamos, Santiago de Cali. Administrative Department of Environmental Management-DAGMA. Bird checklist. Santiago de Cali, Colombia. 9 p.
Vidal-Astudillo, V. 2010. Compilation of Bird Species Registered in the Basin of Felidia and Pichinde River. Consortium CSC 2009. Secondary data compilation. Santiago de Cali, Colombia. 16 p.
Cárdenas, G., V. Vidal-Astudillo, H. López, CH Giraldo, C. Ruiz, C. Saavedra & P. Franco. 2010. Inventories of Fauna and Flora in Relicts of Dry Forest in Areas of Amaime River, Cauca Valley. Wildlife Conservation Society-WCS Colombia & Empresa de Energía del Pacífico SAESP-EPSA SAESP Final report. Santiago de Cali, Colombia. 167 p.
Roncancio, N., C. Saavedra-Rodríguez, G. Cárdenas, V. Vidal-Astudillo, F. Ayerbe-Quiñones, F. González, G. Cárdenas-Posada & C. Pimienta. 2009. Combining Economic and Technical Efforts to Determine the Effect of Avian Influenza on Water Birds in the Wetland Ecosystem of Cauca Valley. Wildlife Conservation Society-WCS Colombia Program, Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca-CVC, Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance-GAINS & United States Agency for International Development-USAID. Final report. Santiago de Cali, Colombia. 263 p.
Vidal-Astudillo, V., G. Cárdenas, LF Ortega & CA Saavedra-Rodríguez. 2008. Monitoring the Status and Dynamics of the Populations of Birds to Measure the Impact of Intervention and Forest Clearing on the Urban Ecosystem of the Fifth Avenue. CONALVIAS SA Final report. Santiago de Cali, Colombia. 82 p.
Orejuela-Gartner, JE, N. Correa-Ortiz, H. López-Carvajal, V. Vidal-Astudillo & C. Wagner-Wagner. 2007. Combining Economic and Technical Efforts to Evaluate the Status of Flora and Fauna in San Antonio Forest, Environmental Interest Area Basin of the Cali River. Asociación Río Cali-ARC & Regional Autonomous Corporation of Valle del Cauca-CVC. Final report. Santiago de Cali, Colombia. 96 p.

Additional Training

Technician in “Prairie / Sagebrush Songbird Project, Summer 2016”. May 2016. Avian Science Center of University of Montana. Roundup-MT, United States of America.
Volunteer in Technical Unit of Matecaña Zoo. June – July 2012. Society for the Improvement of Pereira-SMP. Pereira-Risaralda, Colombia. http://www.zoo.nestorvarela.co/site/zoomateut/inicio/equipo-humano/viviana-vidal
Advanced Techniques for Banding and Monitoring Avian Winter Survival-MAWS. September 2008. Association for the Study and Conservation of Aquatic Birds in Colombia-Calidris. La Cumbre-Valle del Cauca, Colombia.
Scholarship to attend the workshop Training on Banding Birds. September 2004. ProAves Foundation. El Paujíl Reserve, Puerto Pinzón-Boyacá, Colombia.
Volunteer in Colombia Threatened Parrots National Program. July 2004 and July 2005. Fundación ProAves. El Mirador Reserve, Genoa-Quindío, Colombia.
Scholarship to attend the workshop Techniques for Monitoring Terrestrial Birds. August 2003. ProAves Foundation. Garden-Antioquia, Colombia.

Formal Education

Universidad del Valle

Biologist BSc.