Viviana Ruiz Gutierrez

Assistant Director, Center for Avian Population Studies • Program Leader, Conservation Science

Expertise

Applied Population Ecology • Conservation Science • Quantitative Ecology • Tropical Ecology and Conservation

My research focus is to work at the interface between science and application to deepen our understanding of the social and environmental factors that shape where and when species occur on a given landscape to improve decision-making and conservation.  My research group works on developing and applying novel quantitative modeling techniques to understand how human drivers of land-use change (e.g. agriculture) affect biodiversity using birds as indicators. We work collaboratively with practitioners, decision-makers, stakeholders, and local communities to design research that supports the development and implementation of strategies that reconcile biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and human well-being.

Education

Postdoctoral Research, Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University
Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University
B.S., Tropical Biology, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica

Recent Publications

Molina-Mora, I., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, Á. Vega-Hidalgo, and L. Sandoval (2024). The utility of passive acoustic monitoring for using birds as indicators of sustainable agricultural management practices. Frontiers in Bird Science 3:1386759.
Liu, I. A., E. R. Gulson-Castillo, J. X. Wu, A.-J. C. Demery, N. Cortes-Rodriguez, K. M. Covino, S. B. Lerman, S. A. Gill, and V. Ruiz Gutierrez (2024). Building bridges in the conversation on eponymous common names of North American birds. Ibis. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13320
McNeil, D. J., A. D. Rodewald, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, C. J. Fiss, and J. L. Larkin (2024). Heterogeneity in breeding productivity is driven largely by factors affecting nestlings and young fledglings in an imperiled migratory passerine. Ecology and Evolution 14:e11327.
Donlan, C. J., D. Eusse‐González, G. M. Luque, M. E. Reiter, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, M. C. Allen, R. Johnston‐González, O. J. Robinson, G. Fernández, E. Palacios, and J. Valenzuela (2024). An impact evaluation of conservation investments targeting long‐distance migratory species. Conservation Biology 38:e14194.
Hochachka, W. M., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, and A. Johnston (2023). Considerations for fitting occupancy models to data from eBird and similar volunteer-collected data. Ornithology 140:ukad035.
Davis, C. L., Y. Bai, D. Chen, O. Robinson, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, C. P. Gomes, and D. Fink (2023). Deep learning with citizen science data enables estimation of species diversity and composition at continental extents. Ecology 104:e4175.
Stillman, A. N., P. E. Howell, G. S. Zimmerman, E. R. Bjerre, B. A. Millsap, O. J. Robinson, D. Fink, E. F. Stuber, and V. Ruiz Gutierrez (2023). Leveraging the strengths of citizen science and structured surveys to achieve scalable inference on population size. Journal of Applied Ecology 60:2389–2399.
Sayers, C. J., D. C. Evers, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, E. Adams, C. M. Vega, J. N. Pisconte, V. Tejeda, K. Regan, O. P. Lane, A. A. Ash, R. Cal, et al. (2023). Mercury in Neotropical birds: a synthesis and prospectus on 13 years of exposure data. Ecotoxicology 32:1096–1123.
Harris, S. M., O. J. Robinson, Y. Hingrat, E. Le Nuz, and V. Ruiz Gutierrez (2023). Understanding the demography of a reinforced population: Long-term survival of captive-bred and wild-born houbara bustards in Morocco. Biological Conservation 284:110185.
Sharp, A., A. Contina, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, T. Sillett, E. Bridge, E. Besozzi, J. Muller, J. Kelly, A. Given, and C. Rushing (2023). The strength of migratory connectivity in Painted Buntings is spatial scale dependent and shaped by molting behavior. Journal of Field Ornithology 94:art7.
Sharp, A., C. Rushing, A. Contina, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, S. Sillett, E. Bridge, E. Besozzi, J. Muller, J. Kelly, and A. Given (2022). Spatial and temporal scale-dependence of the strength of migratory connectivity in a North American passerine. [Online.] Available at
Robinson, O. J., J. B. Socolar, E. F. Stuber, T. Auer, A. J. Berryman, P. H. Boersch-Supan, D. J. Brightsmith, A. H. Burbidge, S. H. M. Butchart, C. L. Davis, A. M. Dokter, et al. (2022). Extreme uncertainty and unquantifiable bias do not inform population sizes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119:e2113862119.
Juárez, R., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, and L. Sandoval (2022). Surviving in cities: the case of a year-round territorial bird in the Neotropics. Journal of Urban Ecology 8:juac006.
Lello-Smith, A., A. D. Rodewald, V. H. Ramos, K. V. Rosenberg, and V. Ruiz Gutierrez (2022). Repeated burning undermines the value of regenerating cattle pastures for tropical forest birds. Biological Conservation 271:109593.
Stuber, E. F., O. J. Robinson, E. R. Bjerre, M. C. Otto, B. A. Millsap, G. S. Zimmerman, M. G. Brasher, K. M. Ringelman, A. M. V. Fournier, A. Yetter, J. E. Isola, and V. Ruiz Gutierrez (2022). The potential of semi-structured citizen science data as a supplement for conservation decision-making: Validating the performance of eBird against targeted avian monitoring efforts. Biological Conservation 270:109556.
Wilson, S., H. Lin, R. Schuster, A. M. González, C. Gómez, E. Botero‐Delgadillo, N. J. Bayly, J. R. Bennett, A. D. Rodewald, P. R. Roehrdanz, and V. Ruiz Gutierrez (2022). Opportunities for the conservation of migratory birds to benefit threatened resident vertebrates in the Neotropics. Journal of Applied Ecology 59:653–663.
Ortega-Álvarez, R., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, O. J. Robinson, E. Berrones Benítez, I. Medina Mena, and J. J. Zúñiga-Vega (2021). Beyond incidence data: Assessing bird habitat use in indigenous working landscapes through the analysis of behavioral variation among land uses. Landscape and Urban Planning 211:104100.
Robinson, O. J., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, R. J. Meese, E. E. Graves, M. Holyoak, C. R. Wilson, A. C. Wyckoff, B. D. Merriell, C. Snyder, and E. G. Cooch (2021). Multi‐scale demographic analysis reveals range contraction via pseudo‐source and sink population structure. Ecosphere 12:e03521.
Johnston, A., W. M. Hochachka, M. E. Strimas-Mackey, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, O. J. Robinson, E. T. Miller, T. Auer, S. T. Kelling, and D. Fink (2021). Analytical guidelines to increase the value of community science data: An example using eBird data to estimate species distributions. Diversity and Distributions 27:1265–1277.
Ruiz Gutierrez, V., E. R. Bjerre, M. C. Otto, G. S. Zimmerman, B. A. Millsap, D. Fink, E. F. Stuber, M. Strimas, and O. J. Robinson (2021). A pathway for citizen science data to inform policy: A case study using eBird data for defining low‐risk collision areas for wind energy development. Journal of Applied Ecology 58:1104–1111.
Ortega‐Álvarez, R., E. Berrones Benítez, I. Medina Mena, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, M. del C. Arizmendi, L. A. Sánchez‐González, and J. J. Zúñiga‐Vega (2021). Local colonization and extinction in forestry habitats: Assessing the effects of productive activities on the occupancy dynamics of bird populations. Biotropica 53:1142–1162.
Rushing, C. S., A. M. Van Tatenhove, A. Sharp, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, M. C. Freeman, P. W. Sykes, A. M. Given, and T. S. Sillett (2021). Integrating tracking and resight data enables unbiased inferences about migratory connectivity and winter range survival from archival tags. Ornithological Applications 123:duab010.
Lees, A. C., K. V. Rosenberg, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, S. Marsden, T. S. Schulenberg, and A. D. Rodewald (2020). A roadmap to identifying and filling shortfalls in Neotropical ornithology. The Auk 137:ukaa048.
Robinson, O. J., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, M. D. Reynolds, G. H. Golet, M. E. Strimas-Mackey, and D. Fink (2020). Integrating citizen science data with expert surveys increases accuracy and spatial extent of species distribution models. Diversity and Distributions 26:976–986.
McNeil, D. J., A. D. Rodewald, O. J. Robinson, C. J. Fiss, K. V. Rosenberg, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, K. R. Aldinger, A. A. Dhondt, S. Petzinger, and J. L. Larkin (2020). Regional abundance and local breeding productivity explain occupancy of restored habitats in a migratory songbird. Biological Conservation 245:108463.
Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, W. M. Hochachka, and S. Kelling (2020). Modeling avian full annual cycle distribution and population trends with citizen science data. Ecological Applications 30:e02056.
McNeil, D. J., A. D. Rodewald, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, K. E. Johnson, M. Strimas‐Mackey, S. Petzinger, O. J. Robinson, G. E. Soto, A. A. Dhondt, and J. L. Larkin (2020). Multi‐scale drivers of restoration outcomes for an imperiled songbird. Restoration Ecology 28:880–891.
Johnston, A., W. Hochachka, M. Strimas-Mackey, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, O. Robinson, E. Miller, T. Auer, S. Kelling, and D. Fink (2019). Best practices for making reliable inferences from citizen science data: Case study using eBird to estimate species distributions. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/574392
Kelling, S., A. Johnston, A. Bonn, D. Fink, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, R. Bonney, M. Fernandez, W. M. Hochachka, R. Julliard, R. Kraemer, and R. Guralnick (2019). Using Semistructured Surveys to Improve Citizen Science Data for Monitoring Biodiversity. BioScience 69:170–179.
Ortega-Alvarez, R., J. Zuñiga-Vega, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, E. Berrones Nebites, I. Medina Mena, and F. Ramirez Felipe (2019). [In press] Improving the sustainability of working landscapes in Latin America: An application of community-based monitoring data on bird populations to inform management guidelines. Forest Ecology and Management.
Robinson, O. J., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, D. Fink, R. J. Meese, M. Holyoak, and E. G. Cooch (2019). [In press] Using citizen science data in integrated population models to inform conservation decision-making. Biological Conservation.
Ruiz Gutierrez, Viviana, Kendall, William L., Saracco, James F., and White, Gary C. (2019). [In press] Modeling dynamics for resident and transient individuals: a case study using uncertain-state models for migratory birds. Journal of Applied Ecology.
Freeman, B. G., M. N. Scholer, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, and J. W. Fitzpatrick (2018). Climate change causes upslope shifts and mountaintop extirpations in a tropical bird community. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115:11982–11987.
Robinson Orin J., Ruiz Gutierrez, Viviana, Fink Daniel, and Heikkinen Risto (2018). Correcting for bias in distribution modelling for rare species using citizen science data. Diversity and Distributions 24:460–472.
Robinson, O. J., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, D. Fink, R. J. Meese, M. Holyoak, and E. G. Cooch (2018). Using citizen science data in integrated population models to inform conservation. Biological Conservation 227:361–368.
Dokter, A. M., A. Farnsworth, D. Fink, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, W. M. Hochachka, F. A. La Sorte, O. J. Robinson, K. V. Rosenberg, and S. Kelling (2018). Seasonal abundance and survival of North America's migratory avifauna determined by weather radar. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2:1603–1609.
La Sorte, F. A., D. Fink, P. J. Blancher, A. D. Rodewald, V. Ruiz Gutierrez, K. V. Rosenberg, W. M. Hochachka, P. H. Verburg, and S. Kelling (2017). Global change and the distributional dynamics of migratory bird populations wintering in Central America. Global Change Biology 23:5284–5296.
Tingley, M. W., V. Ruiz Gutierrez, R. L. Wilkerson, C. A. Howell, and R. B. Siegel (2016). Pyrodiversity promotes avian diversity over the decade following forest fire. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283:20161703.
Ruiz Gutierrez, V., W. L. Kendall, J. F. Saracco, and G. C. White (2016). Overwintering strategies of migratory birds: A novel approach for estimating seasonal movement patterns of residents and transients. Journal of Applied Ecology 53:1035–1045.
Ruiz Gutierrez, V., M. B. Hooten, and E. H. Campbell Grant (2016). Uncertainty in biological monitoring: A framework for data collection and analysis to account for multiple sources of sampling bias. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 7:900–909.
Viviana Ruiz Gutierrez by Dave Burbank
Center Avian Population Studies
Projects Coastal Solutions, Conservation Science
Work607-254-2469
Email vr45@cornell.edu

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Golden-cheeked Warbler by Bryan Calk/Macaulay Library