About myself:

Ever since I was young, I have had a strong interest in the natural world, especially in the mechanisms and processes that have shaped the world we live in today. This interest led me to pursue a career in Biological Sciences. As an undergrad at Patagonia National University in Argentina, I studied thermal physiology of guanacos (Lama guanicoe). Later, I obtained a PhD degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. My dissertation work focused on the population genetics and adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia in the crested duck (Lophonetta specularioides), a waterfowl species endemic to the Andes of South America. My research interestes include evolutional biology, population genetics, physiology, and ecological adaptation. Recently, I joined Massey Universtiy as Postdoctoral Fellow where I will be studying local adaptation in tree weta (Hemideina spp.) .

Publications:

Bulgarella, M., Peters, J.L., Valqui, T.H., Wilson, R.E. & McCracken, K.G. In review. Multilocus coalescent analyses reveal the effects of balancing slection on hemoglobin variants in high-altitude populations of crested ducks (Lophonetta specularioides). Submitted to Evolution.

Bulgarella, M., Sorenson, M.D., Peters, J.L., Wilson, R.E. & McCracken, K.G. 2010. Phylogenetic relationships of Amazonetta, Speculanas, Lophonetta, and Tachyeres: Four morphologically divergent duck genera endemic to South America. Journal of Avian Biology 41: 186–199.

McCracken, K.G., Barger, C.P., Bulgarella, M., Johnson, K.P., Kuhner, M.K., Moore, A.V., Peters, J.L., Trucco, J., Valqui, T.H., Winker, K.S. & Wilson, R.E. 2009. Signatures of high-altitude adaptation in the major hemoglobin of five species of Andean dabbling ducks. American Naturalist 174: 631–650.

McCracken, K.G., Barger, C.P., Bulgarella, M., Johnson, K.P., Sonsthagen, S.A., Trucco, J., Valqui, T.H., Wilson, R.E., Winker, K.S. & Sorenson, M.D. 2009. Parallel evolution in the major haemoglobin genes of eight species of Andean waterfowl. Molecular Ecology 18: 3992–4005.

Bulgarella, M., Stewart, N.C., Fedorov, V.B., Moore, A.V. & McCracken, K.G. 2009. Hemoglobin transcript abundance in a bone marrow cDNA library of Crested Ducks (Lophonetta specularioides) in the Peruvian High Andes. The Auk 126: 666– 672.

McCracken, K.G., Bulgarella, M., Johnson, K.P., Kuhner, M.K., Trucco, J., Valqui, T.H., Wilson, R.E. & Peters, J.L. 2009. Gene flow in the face of countervailing selection: Adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia in the beta A hemoglobin subunit of yellow-billed pintails in the Andes. Molecular Biology and Evolution 26: 815– 827.

Bulgarella, M., Cella, L., Quintana, F., Sapoznikow, A., Gosztonyi, A. & Kuba, L. 2008. Diet of Imperial Cormorants (Phalacrocorax atriceps) and Rock Shags (P. magellanicus) breeding sympatrically in Patagonia, Argentina. Ornitología Neotropical 19: 553–563.

Bulgarella, M., Wilson, R.E., Kopuchian, C., Valqui, T.H. & McCracken, K.G. 2007. Elevational variation in body size of Crested Ducks (Lophonetta specularioides) from the central High Andes, Mendoza, and Patagonia. Ornitología Neotropical 18: 58-602.

Bulgarella, M. & de Lamo, D.A. 2005. Thermal conductance of guanaco (Lama guanicoe) pelage. Journal of Thermal Biology 30: 569–573.

Working with guanacos whilst an undergraduate, Patagoina Argentina

At 4500 m altitude in Peru, after retrieving a crested duck from a whoosh net

Collecting tissue samples in Patagonia Argentina with my graduate advisor Dr. Kevin McCracken