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Research Assistant Professor - Department of Biological Sciences
Assistant Investigator - Edison Biotechnology Institute
Adjunct Faculty - Translational Biomedical Sciences Program

Education

Ph.D. in Biology from Texas Tech University

M.Sc. in Biology from Texas Tech University

B.S. in Biology from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

Research Interests

My research takes a multidisciplinary approach to examine how natural populations differentiate across space and evolve in response to varying environmental pressures. This encompasses integrating ecological genomics with phenotypic analyses to uncover patterns of adaptive variation in wild populations. I also focus on exploring novel sources of natural products with potential therapeutic uses. Within this area, I am developing a research program to understand how biological diversity can serve as a measure of chemical diversity, helping to identify new sources of compounds with antimicrobial, anticancer, and antiviral properties. By studying how organisms evolve in response to environmental pressures and exploring new reservoirs of therapeutic agents, I aim to establish a connection between evolutionary biology and natural products research.

Relevant Publications

• For a complete list of publications, visit .

Montavon, A., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., & Han, Y. (2024). . Organics, 5(4), 361-377.

Yang, Y., Grace, M., Kessler, C., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., Zhou, Y., & Han, Y. (2024). . J 2024, Vol. 7, Pages 393-405, 7(3), 393–405. 

Portero, C. E., Han, Y., & Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R. (2023). . Engineering Microbiology, 3(2). 

Yang, Y., Kessler, M. G. C., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., & Han, Y. (2023). . Molecules, 28(10).

Auteri, G. G., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M.R., Olson, D. H., & Lacey Knowles, L. (2022). (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) populations shows no association with land use, fire frequency, or river drainage but exhibits genetic signatures of potential conservation concern. PLOS ONE, 17(6), e0268882. 

Prates, I., Singhal, S., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., Grundler, M. R., Moritz, C., Donnellan, S. C., & Rabosky, D. L. (2022). . American Naturalist, 199(2), E57–E75. 

Narvaez-Trujillo, A., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., Veloz-Villavicencio, E., & Portero, C. E. (2021). An Appeal for Increased Conservation and Research. In Neotropical Endophytic Fungi (pp. 131–149). Springer, Cham. 

Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., Alvarado-Serrano, D. F., Mueller, B., Strauss, R., & Baker, R. J. (2019). Patterns of fluctuating asymmetry and shape variation in Myodes glareolus from Chernobyl, Ukraine. In L. C. Bradley, R.D.; Genoways, H.H.; Schmidly, D.J; Bradley (Ed.), Special Publications from Field to Laboratory: A Memorial Volume In Honor of Robert J. Baker (pp. 663–680). Natural History Museum of Texas Tech University.

Singhal, S., Huang, H., Grundler, M. R., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., Holmes, I., Title, P. O., Donnellan, S. C., & Rabosky, D. L. (2018). A comparative test across Australia’s most diverse vertebrate radiation. American Naturalist, 192(4), 432–447. 

Marchán-Rivadeneira, M., Larsen, P., Phillips, C., Strauss, R., & Baker, R. (2012). (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 105(3), 623–634. 

Larsen, P. A., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., & Baker, R. J. (2010). . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(25), 11447–11452.