Assistant Professor (Current)
Post-Doctoral Researcher (NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018 – 2019)
Ph.D. University of Alaska, Fairbanks
M.Sc. University of Alaska, Anchorage
B.Sc. University of California, Santa Cruz
Email: rsbeltra@ucsc.edu
I continue to work in close collaboration with Dr. Dan Costa and the Costa Lab, but now accept graduate students and post-doctoral researchers through my lab group (https://beltranlab.ucsc.edu).
Research Interests
As a physiological ecologist, I seek to understand when, why, and how animals do what they do in the context of their environments. My typical approach is to build simulation models based on life history, physiological, and ecological data collected using biologging, remote sensing, and handling procedures. I have developed a set of innovative tools to explore the drivers and consequences of life history events and to tackle big questions in ecology.