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La curiosidad mató al gato, but it also made him a great scientist!
La curiosidad mató al gato, but it also made him a great scientist!
Curiosity has fueled discoveries all around the world. Fire? Curiosity! Gravity? Curiosity! The effects of introduced species in urban ecosystems, The spread of the deadliest fungus recorded in history? Curiosity. Well… let’s not lie, funding too. But also, curiosity!
My curiosity stems from observation, and that’s not always rooted in science. It’s in art, politics, and everyday life. I know engineers, poets, guides, and children who are incredibly good at observing. That leads to questions.
Questions you ask yourself about what you see.
Questions you ask others about what they see, how they see it, and why they see it that way.
And that can turn into a beautiful conversation that, sometimes, becomes a hypothesis.
Observers often stop at the hypothesis. They have better things to do, like make art, build bridges, fish, cook.
Scientists take it further.
"Let’s test this"
That’s how I became a scientist.
Also, because I’m not an artist... or a good cook.
Don’t get me wrong, if I could make art, I would.
But I guess this is my art.
Science is my art.
Photo Credits: Tristan Vratil
Emerging infectious diseases
Emerging infectious diseases
Diseases that are new or spreading quickly. These often move between species or show up in places they were not before.
I study how pathogens, like the chytrid fungus, affect frogs, appear, and spread in tropical ecosystems. My work focuses on tracking patterns, understanding risks, and finding ways to protect wildlife before it is too late.
Effects of introduced species
Effects of introduced species
Introduced species are organisms that show up where they did not evolve, often because of humans, and then start changing the rules of the ecosystem. I’ve studied frogs invading the Galápagos and lizards taking over the city gardens of Guayaquil. Whether they’re eating too many native insects or becoming someone else's lunch, these species offer a window into how quickly nature reshapes itself in response to human-driven change
List of pubs
List of pubs
2025
Moretta-Urdiales, M.D.M., Narváez, A., Bermeo, M*., Cuadrado, S*., Molina, N., Guayasamin, J.M. (2025). Contrasting Seasonal Prevalence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in fragmented Urban Forests of Coastal Ecuador. Journal of Wildlife Diseases.
Neely, W.J., Moretta-Urdiales, M.D.M., Smart, U., Guayasamin, J.M., McCracken, S.F., Rodriguez, D. (2025). Community-wide genotyping of the amphibian chytrid fungus in Ecuador. EcoHealth.
Moretta-Urdiales, M.D.M., Tenorio, M. *., Velasquez, F. *., Davis, R. *, Lynch, R., Guayasamin, J.M., McCracken, S., Rodriguez, D. (2025). Look up: Canopy Amphibian diversity of Mashpi Reserve in the Andean Choco bioregion of Ecuador. Herpetological Conservation and Biology
2023
Keyko Cruz-García, Barreno, M. *., Cuadrado, S. *., Moretta-Urdiales, M.D.M., Molina-Moreira, N., Salas, J.A., Torres-Domínguez, Á., Narváez, A.E. (2023). Amphibians and reptiles of Isla Santay (Durán, Ecuador). Check List, 19(3), 347–369.
Harding, S.F., Moretta-Urdiales, M.D.M., Nordmeyer, S.C., Wostl, E., Rodriguez, D. (2023). Leveraging preserved specimens of Nerodia to infer the spatiotemporal dynamics of Ophidiomyces ophidiicola via quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Ecology and Evolution, 13(4), e9998.
2022
Michelsohn, M.J., Barrow, L.N., Moretta-Urdiales, M.D.M., Achig-Vega, A., Nusirwuia, K., Ron, S.R. (2022). Geographic distribution: Dendropsophus gryllatus. Herpetological Review, 53, 257–258.
2021
Narváez, A.E., Ghia, T., Moretta-Urdiales, M.D.M., Molina-Moreira, N. (2021). Feeding habits of Anolis sagrei, an introduced species, in city gardens in Guayas Province. Urban Ecosystems.
Moretta-Urdiales, M.D.M., Ernst, R., Pontón-Cevellos, J., Bermúdez, R., Jäger, H. (2020). First assessment of trophic interactions in the introduced hylid frog Scinax quinquefasciatus and its potential impact on the native invertebrate fauna of Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos. NeoBiota.
Advancing conservation through science, curiosity, and action
Contact me: mariadelmarmorettaurdiales [@] gmail [.] com
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