Rocío Aguilar

Rocío did her BSc/MSc at the Comahue National University (Argentina) on habitat use in geckos, and research at the National University of Cuyo (Argentina) on the thermal ecophysiology of high-altitude iguanids.

She worked for 6 years as a RA with Mike Kearney (University of Melbourne) and Christy Hipsley (University of Melbourne/Museums Victoria) working on the ecophysiology, ecomorphology and conservation of Australian lizards. As part of an ARC Linkage Project, between Monash University and Museums Victoria, Rocío is currently CT scanning Australian lizard species. This project highlights evolutionary morphology traits to understand the high diversification of lizards in Australia. As part of Rocío’s role as a RA for Christy Hipsley, she has micro-CT scanned many fossils to help identify species and compared them with extant species.

She published in collaboration with Scott Hocknull (Queensland Museum) and Jay Black (University of Melbourne) a novel technique to optimize scanning multiple small fossils from cave deposits at Capricorn Caves in Rockhampton, Queensland. Rocío’s passion for outreach activities and science communication events has led her to participate in the Capricorn Caves Fossil Open Day where she 3D printed selected fossil specimens to engage the public in local biodiversity.

She also regularly presents discoveries on CT scanning techniques as an increasingly powerful tool for non-destructive investigation at the National Science Week at Melbourne Museum. She loves snakes!