Isotopic niche, Trophic ecology, niche modeling, phenotypic plasticity, energy metabolism, thermoregulation, osmoregulation, phenology and Long-term ecological research.

SUPERVISION OF THESIS AND POSTDOCTORAL SPONSORSHIP

• 2020 - Present. Postdoctoral sponsorship: "Ecological drivers of individual specialization in a stochastic Mediterranean ecosystem under a global change scenario". Dr: Natalia Ricote.

• 2020 - Present. Postdoctoral sponsorship: " Ecological opportunity and levels of individual diet specialization in an assembly of small mammals in a changing environment in north central Chile ". Dr: Mara Inés Espinosa.

• 2020-2024: Co-director of Doctoral thesis: "Individual specialization and trophic niche variation in two sympatric cormorants of northwestern Patagonia". Doctorate in Science with mention in Conservation and Management of Natural Resources. Los Lagos University. Dr. Candidate: Gabriela Píriz.

• 2021–2022: Director of undergraduate thesis: "Trophic niche overlap and individual specialization in juvenile and adult individuals of Zonotrichia Capensis". Environmental Biology, University of Chile. Candidate: Sara Bustamante.

• 2021–2022: Director of undergraduate thesis: "Trophic niche overlap and individual specialization in juvenile and adult individuals of Zonotrichia Capensis". Environmental Biology, University of Chile. Candidate: Maria Lucia Malaga

• 2021–2022: Director of undergraduate thesis: "Integrating physiology into correlative models: estimating the distribution of Phyllotis darwini in a context of climate change". Environmental Biology, University of Chile. Candidate: Alejandro Paredes.

• 2015-2019. Director of undergraduate thesis: "Trade-off between physiological tolerance and phenotypic plasticity in the metabolic rates of a native rodent, Phyllotis darwini". Environmental Biology, University of Chile. Candidate: Josefina Cruz.

• 2016-2019: Director of Master thesis: "Effect of high and variable ambient temperatures during ontogeny on the physiological tolerance of Phyllotis darwini (Rodentia, Cricetidae)". Master of Biological Sciences, University of Chile.
Candidate: Gabriela Píriz.

• 2015-2016: Director of undergraduate thesis: "Metabolic expansibility in two populations of rodents (Phyllotis darwini) inhabiting the northern and southern limits of their geographical distribution in Chile". Environmental Biology, University of Chile.
Candidate: Gabriela Píriz.

PARTICIPATION IN THESIS COMMITTEES

• 2018-2020: Integrated study of biomarkers and metabolic costs associated with the detoxification of an organophosphate pesticide in a context of climate change on two endogeic earthworm species. PhD in Science with a mention in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Chile. Candidate: Cristóbal Narváez Ordóñez.

• 2019: Growing up in a noisy environment: effects of urban noise on physiological aspects and learning in an early development bird. Master's in Biological Sciences, University of Chile. Candidate: Romina Flores Martínez.

• 2020: Analysis of physiological traits and life history of Rachiptera limbata (Diptera: Tephritidae) along a latitudinal gradient. Master's in Biological Sciences, University of Chile. Candidate: Sofía Léniz Martelli.

• 2021: Effect of food availability and thermal acclimation on the standard metabolic rate of the scorpion Bothriurus coriaceus (Bothriuridae). Environmental Biology, University of Chile. Candidate: Carlos Ubilla Larraín.

• 2022: Seasonal diet of the Camelid Lama guanicoe in the arid Andes of the Atacama Region, Chile. Master's in Biological Sciences with mention in Ecology of Arid Zones. Candidate: Natalia López Morgado.

BIO

SCIENCE OUTREACH
• 2021: Speaker: Flowering in the Desert Shrubland, Dynamic Plant Responses to Climate in Chile. Webinar David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard.

• 2021: Speaker: Climate Change, Present and Future, University of Chile.

• 2021: Speaker: Animal Physiology in the Context of Climate Change, University of Chile.

• 2021: Director and Lecturer of the course: The Origin of Life and Evolution of Species, Extension Department, Adolfo Ibáñez University.

• 2021: Organizer and Speaker: World Environment Day, Why We Must Transform Our Relationship with Nature? Seminar at Adolfo Ibáñez University.

• 2020: Co-creator: Invitation to Co-creation Workshop for Vincula Project at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

• 2020: Speaker: Climate Change, Present and Future, University of Chile.

• 2020: Speaker: Animal Physiology in the Context of Climate Change, University of Chile.

• 2020: Speaker: Climate Change: Biodiversity, Infectious Diseases, and One Health, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Adolfo Ibáñez University.

• 2020: Speaker: Global Change: Wildlife, Infectious Diseases, and One Health, Faculty of Engineering, Adolfo Ibáñez University.

• 2020: Magazine Opinion article: Biodiversity, Pandemics, and One Health, Qué Pasa, La Tercera.

• 2020: Promotion of Core Curriculum approach. Undergraduate Admission, Adolfo Ibáñez University.

• 2019: Speaker: Individual Diet Specialization in a Community of Granivorous Small Mammals Living in a Stochastic Environment. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, United States.

• 2018: Speaker: Individual Diet Specialization is Driven by Phenotypic Plasticity in Digestive Traits. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, United States.

• 2018: Speaker: Strengthening Community Identity to Face Natural Disasters. Villa Santa Carolina, Santiago, Chile.

• 2018: Speaker: Climate Change and its Consequences. 50th Anniversary of Villa Santa Carolina, Santiago, Chile.

• 2018: Speaker: Learning the effects of climate change on nature. 5th and 6th-grade students from Colegio Bosques de Chile, San Vicente de Tagua Tagua, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, Chile.

• 2017: Speaker: Climate Change and Its Consequences on the Geographic Distribution Patterns of Animals. Meeting with Scientists. Alberto Hurtado University.

• 2017: Speaker: Evolution of Bioenergetics in Terrestrial Vertebrates: Macrophysiology, Comparative Method, and Climate Change. LX Annual Meeting of the Society of Biology of Chile and XXIV Annual Meeting of the Society of Ecology of Chile. Puerto Varas, Chile.

• 2016: Speaker: Consequences of Global Change. "Itinerant Scientific Fair", Buin, Extension Department of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Chile.

• 2016: Speaker: Causes of Global Change. "Itinerant Scientific Fair", Quinta Normal, Extension Department of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Chile.

• 2016: Speaker and organizer of the symposium titled: The Biological Impacts of Global Change: Physiological Approaches to Predicting the Response of Species to a Changing Environment. VI Binational Ecology Meeting. Misiones, Argentina.

• 2016: Speaker: Individual specialization in the isotopic niche: the role of physiological flexibility

PRESENTATIONS AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
• Fernández, Ignacio C.; Maldonado, Karin; Koplow-Villavicencio, Thomas; Troncoso, Alejandra; Sabat, Pablo; Ricote, Natalia; Newsome, Seth D.; Kartzinel, Tyler R.; Kelt, Douglas A.; Meserve Peter L. Differential response of small mammals´ species to interannual variability of vegetation biomass in a semiarid ecosystem of Chile, ESA Anual meeting 2023, Portland, USA

• Espinosa, Mara. Weinberger, Constanza. Maldonado, Karin. Sabat, Pablo. Fernández, Ignacio C. Newsome, Seth D. Kartzinel, Tyler R. Troncoso, Alejandra. Kelt, Douglas A. Niche partitioning among populations of small mammals in stochastic semi-desert environment, ESA Anual meeting 2023, Portland, US

• Fernandez, Pilar. Weinberger, Constanza. Maldonado, Karin. Troncoso, Alejandra. Cartes, Javiera. Park, Daniel. Davis, Charles. Phenological responses of ephemeral plants to environmental conditions in semiarid Mediterranean ecosystems .ESA Anual meeting 2023, Portland, US

• Maldonado K, Piriz G, Paredes AY, Sabat P, Figueroa D, 2019.
The role of phenotypic plasticity in thermoregulatory capacities on the leaf-eared mouse geographic distribution under climate change. Society of Experimental Biology (SEB), Sevilla, España.

• Maldonado K, Cavieres G, Naya DE, Piriz G, Sabat P, 2018.
Physiological variation in the leaf-eared mouse along a latitudinal gradient and the climatic variability hypothesis. 31st New European Society for Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry (ESCPB) Congress, Porto, Portugal.

• Newsome SD, Maldonado K, Hallmark A, 2018.
Individual diet specialization in a community of granivorous small mammals living in a stochastic environment. 11th International Conference on the Applications of Stable Isotope Techniques to Ecological Studies, Viña del Mar, Chile.

• Maldonado K, López-Morgado N, Píriz G, Bozinovic F, Sabat P, 2015.
Evolutionary trade-off in thermal adaptation and its effect on responses of animals to global climate change. 15th Meeting of The European Society for Evolutionary Biology, Switzerland, Lausanne.

• López-Morgado N, Maldonado K, Cruz-Patillo J, Píriz G, Sabat P, 2015.
Physiological tolerance in two populations of rodents from the northernmost and the southernmost limit of their distribution in Chile. 9th International Congress of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, Poland.

• Maldonado K, López-Morgado N, Píriz G, Anguita S, Reyes C, Chaura R, Sabat P, 2013.
Testing the temporal consistency of dietary individual specialization in Rufous collared-sparrow from different ecological environments: the role of environmental variability. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) Annual Meeting. San Francisco, EEUU.

• Maldonado K, Sabat P, 2010. Individual specialization within populations is related to environmental heterogeneity in the passerine species, Zonotrichia capensis. IV Reunión Binacional de Ecología, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• Maldonado K, Van Dongen W, Sabat P, Vasquez RA, 2009. Differences within and among populations in physiological variables and exploratory behavior in Rufous-collared Sparrows (Zonotrichia capensis). 150 years of Darwin's Evolutionary Theory. Punta del Este, Uruguay.

• Maldonado K, Cavieres G, Sabat P, 2008. Trophic niche modulate physiological specialization in digestive and renal traits: a field study of sparrows (Zonotrichia capensis) along a latitudinal gradient. 25th European Society of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry Congress, Ravenna, Italia.

• Cavieres G, Maldonado K, Soto M, Sabat P, 2007.
Environmental heterogeneity and variability of the plastic response in the energetic trait of Zonotrichia capensis along a latitudinal gradient. Seventh International Congress of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry, Salvador, Bahia, Brasil.

• Sabat P, Maldonado K, G Cavieres, C Veloso, Canals M, 2006. Acclimation vs. Acclimatization: Physiological Flexibility of Zonotrichia capensis in a Seasonal Environment. XI National Congress and VIII Ibero-American Congress of Ethology. Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.

• Sepúlveda M, Maldonado K, S González, Sabat P, 2004. Effect of Diet on Enzymatic and Renal Activities in Passerine Birds. II Binational Meeting on Ecology, Mendoza, Argentina.

SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES MEMBERSHIP
2013 - 2017. Sociedad de Ecología de Chile
2013 - 2017. European Society for Evolutionary Biology

REVIEWER
Journal of Comparative Physiology B, Journal of Experimental Zoology A, Current Zoology, Annales Zoologici Fennici, Ardeola, Integrative and Comparative Biology, International Journal of Biometeorology, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Journal of Thermal Biology, Ecology and Evolution. Journal of mammalogy.
FONDECYT regular, Biología I.