Professional Involvement
Edwards Prize 2017 Recipient
Best paper of the year in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
“Morphological and genetic variation of the Yellow-backed Oriole (Icterus chrysater) across its widely disjunct distribution in Central America” March 2016; 128 (1): 22-31.
Although most articles originate from work conducted in the western hemisphere (a large portion of the research on Neotropical birds is published here), the geographic coverage of the journal is global. The Journal is internationally recognized as an important, major journal of ornithology. The Edwards Prize is given annually for the best major article published during the previous year.
- Listen to the interview with The Ithacan.
Member of the American Ornithological Society Diversity Committee:
Trying to make people from outside of Academia and underrepresented groups welcome. Also, I think outreach is very important, specially now, we have to go out and talk with people about science. Science is fun and we use it every day in our daily life, that is one of the reasons I like teaching Evolution to non-majors. It gives me the opportunity to share my knowledge and explain the misconceptions around it.
https://amornithnews.org/2017/05/25/nandadevi-cortes-rodriguez/
Most Recent Conferences:
Co-Organizer and Presenter. "Birds of a Different Feather: Increasing Diversity in Ornithology." American Ornithological Society Conference. Michigan State University Summer 2017.
Organizers: Nancy Chen, Scott Taylor, Nandadevi Cortes-Rodriguez, Sara Kaiser and Kevin Omland
Promoting the recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups in science is important. This symposium will feature speakers from established programs aimed at increasing diversity in STEM at various career stages (undergraduate, graduate, postdoc, faculty, and non-academic biologists), followed by a breakout session during which attendees brainstorm concrete steps we can take to increase diversity and inclusion in our fields. Increasing diversity in ornithology is a key goal of the current AOS leadership, and ideas generated during this symposium will be considered and implemented by the newly formed AOS Diversity Committee.
Moderator. "How to Thrive and Finish Your Program – A “When Faculty Say X”. PROMISE Summer Success Institute. Hanover, MD. August 2017.
In this session, professors from across the country, members of the Alfred B. Sloan Mentoring Network Advisory Board, answer all of the questions that students never asked their faculty, and are too nervous to ask their advisor. Between them, they have experience as deans, department chairs, center directors, and PIs of grants from NSF, NIH, and the U.S. Department of Education.
Since 2003, SSI has been bringing graduate students in STEM from underrepresented groups in Maryland for a conference and series of workshops with the goal of building a community of scholars who would finish graduate degrees and go on to be professors and leaders in their respective fields. This PROMISE Summer Success Institute, is sponsored by the National Science Foundation’s Alliances for Graduate Education and Professoriate (AGEP) program, will celebrate 15 years of the Summer Success Institute in 2017!