Rossana Romo

Research Fellow

What gets you through those long mornings of collecting birds?

“I really feel like I belong inside the forest. When I’m inside the forest I’m recharged. I’m very concentrated all the time on the songs of the birds, on walking and not falling down, on putting the nets in the correct order. I think I really live for this, it’s very important.”

Along with a breakfast of eggs, tomatoes, and a protein milkshake, Rossana just needs a research project in the morning to really get her day going. It also helps that she’s a morning person.

“The dawn is magical for me. I think I am more in love with my profession each season. This is my first time studying wildlife in terms of disease transmission, but I’ve been doing field research for many years now, studying mosquitoes, snakes, plants, and other wildlife. I have been very connected to nature since I was little.”

Rossana grew up in the high Andes of Ecuador, so Tyson is a step down altitude-wise and a step up career-wise into what for her will be a yearlong foray into different field sites and research projects. Her passions in both public health and wildlife studies align with the diversity of her background and future pursuits.

“What I like about my point right now is that I can take the wildlife path, but also get a little experience in the human cycle of vector-borne disease transmission, so I can actually help others to understand and to connect those points.”

Rossana worked with Solny Adasteinsson's Tick & Wildlife Ecology team during summer 2019. Learn more about their prescribed fire and tick-borne disease ecology research here.