Valeria Ramírez Castañeda

Valeria Ramírez Castañeda is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the King Center on Global Development. Her research explores the intersection of urbanization, sustainability, and disease ecology, with a focus on Amazonian cities. She studies how urban expansion interacts with environmental change and vector-borne disease dynamics, using participatory research approaches to co-develop solutions with local communities. In addition to her ecological research, she examines the dominance of English in science and its structural consequences, working to promote more inclusive and multilingual scientific practices. Ramírez-Castañeda received her PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

2025- 2026 Academic Year | Postdoctoral Scholar Research Grant

Amazonian Urban Growth: Ecology, Built Environment and Vector-Borne Disease Risk

Amazonian cities are expanding rapidly under global extractive pressures, transforming landscapes long shaped by Indigenous stewardship. In Leticia, Colombia—urban growth has intensified. This urban growth alters ecological interactions and reshapes cultural and social dynamics. Despite these profound changes, urbanization in the Amazon remains understudied. This project examines how contrasting construction types—colonial “dry” infrastructure versus “amphibian” flood-adapted structures rooted in Indigenous knowledge—mediate biodiversity, human–wildlife interactions, mosquito ecology and vector-borne disease risk. Combining ecological surveys, molecular analyses, and community-led research, it reveals how social identities and land-use histories shape resilience and informs equitable, climate-resilient models for tropical cities worldwide.