About

Carlos Botero is an associate professor at The University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Integrative Biology. His research focuses on how organisms adapt to fluctuating environments, with particular interest in the evolutionary causes and consequences of enhanced cognition, the forces driving human cultural evolution, and predicting organismal responses to climate change. Botero earned his doctorate from Cornell University and has previously taught at Washington University in St. Louis.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Biology
• Data science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Political Science
• Ecology
• Sociology
• Management science
• Linguistics
• History
• Environmental resource management
• Archaeology
• Epistemology
• Knowledge management
• Evolutionary biology
• Geography
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Engineering

Selected publications

• D-PLACE aggregated dataset

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026-01-13

  datasetOpen access

  Cite the source of the dataset as: Kathryn R. Kirby, Russell D. Gray, Simon J. Greenhill, Fiona M. Jordan, Stephanie Gomes-Ng, Hans-Jörg Bibiko, Damián E. Blasi, Carlos A. Botero, Claire Bowern, Carol R. Ember, Dan Leehr, Bobbi S. Low, Joe McCarter, William Divale, and Michael C. Gavin. (2016). D-PLACE: A Global Database of Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Diversity. PLoS ONE, 11(7): e0158391. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0158391.

  PublisherDOI

• Mapping functional connectivity in the pigeon brain with wide-field optical imaging

  Neurophotonics · 2026-02-06

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Significance: Adapting optical imaging technology to avian models can overcome many limitations imposed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which currently restricts the number of species used to study functional connectivity. Developing advanced technology to expand the diversity of species that can be effectively imaged is crucial for addressing significant questions that are currently unreachable, such as understanding the evolution of cognition from a comparative perspective. Aim: We assessed the potential of optical imaging technology to measure functional connectivity in birds, utilizing pigeons as an avian model. We evaluated whether we could partition the dorsal surface of the pigeon brain into units that correspond to known anatomical regions. Finally, we compared our results with those obtained from a separate dataset acquired using fMRI. Approach: Using optical intrinsic signal imaging, a widefield optical imaging method, we imaged resting state functional connectivity in scalp-retracted anesthetized pigeons. We then used iterative parcellation and hierarchical clustering to create functional connectivity maps of correlation between parcels at two spatial scales. We recorded a second independent dataset of ten pigeons using a single-shot multi-slice gradient echo EPI sequence fMRI and applied the same parcellation method to compare functional connectivity patterns between the two methodologies. Results: We successfully partitioned signal activity into clusters of parcels that exhibit left-right symmetry between hemispheres and which align well with known anatomical regions of the dorsal surface of the pigeon brain. Moreover, functional connectivity matrices reveal positive correlations between homotopic regions. These cluster partitions and functional connectivity maps display similar patterns across and within individuals. Finally, WOI imaging results were comparable to resting state data acquired using fMRI. Conclusions: Taken together, these results demonstrate the potential of optical imaging technology for the reliable and cost-effective characterization of functional connectivity in birds. In addition, they position optical imaging methods as a valuable tool for large-scale comparative and network-level studies in this taxon.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Botero 2026. The evolutionary consequences of behavioral plasticity

  Open MIND · 2026-01-01

  otherOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  R script to reproduce all simulations used in "The evolutionary consequences of behavioural plasticity". The code will create new simulations and will produce new data figures included in the paper.

  OA PDFDOI

• Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis by Georg F. Striedter and Andrew N. Iwaniuk

  The Auk · 2026-03-25

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The evolutionary consequences of behavioural plasticity

  Nature Communications · 2026-03-13

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  When environments change and phenotypes become suboptimal, organisms often mitigate the costs of maladaptation with behavioural adjustments. Although this "buffering" of natural selection is widespread, its evolutionary consequences are poorly understood. Here, I use evolutionary simulations to explore how behavioural plasticity shapes the tempo and mode of adaptive evolution. My results indicate that this fast-acting form of plasticity enhances persistence under suboptimal conditions and facilitates the accumulation of genetic variation within populations. Over short timescales, or when opportunities for niche expansion are limited, the combined action of these effects leads to slower evolution of morphology and physiology. Over longer timescales, or when ecological opportunities abound, it can instead lead to a "Goldilocks" pattern, where evolution is fastest in moderately plastic lineages, whose medium buffering capacity enables persistence in suboptimal conditions without severely constraining subsequent optimizing selection. These findings expose key differences in scope and mechanism relative to other forms of phenotypic plasticity and suggest that behavioural plasticity may more broadly influence the evolutionary trajectories of individual lineages. More generally, they help clarify our understanding of how short-term flexibility shapes long-term adaptation and underscore the need to reassess current risk-assessment frameworks that equate slower evolutionary rates with greater vulnerability to environmental change.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The global determinants of climate niche breadth in birds

  Nature Communications · 2025-04-17 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Understanding why certain species occupy wider climate niches than others is a fundamental pursuit in ecology with important implications for conservation and management. However, existing synthesis on this topic has focused on the consequences rather than the causes of climate niche expansion, leading to significant gaps in our understanding of the possible evolutionary drivers of this important ecological property. Here we leverage species distribution models powered by millions of citizen science sightings of birds to determine how a comprehensive suite of parameters influences the breadth of climate niches. Our analyses show that migration and more central locations in climate space are directly associated with wider climate niches. Additionally, they indicate that larger brains, smaller bodies, and broader dietary requirements are indirectly associated with narrower niches, presumably because they enable the occupancy of geographically widespread habitats that occupy narrow areas in climate niche space. Through follow-up analyses we further clarify how the different factors considered in this study help shape niche breadth by affecting the colonization of more versus less frequently used habitats. Overall, our findings shed light on critical, yet highly underappreciated properties of climate niches, underscoring the complexity and interconnectivity of the factors that shaped their evolution among birds. Understanding why some species have broader climate niches than others is crucial for ecology and conservation. Here we show that the evolutionary forces shaping this phenomenon in birds are widely interconnected and can sometimes be misinterpreted if considered independently from each other.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Environmental Predictability in Phylogenetic Comparative Analysis: How to Measure It and Does It Matter?

  Global Ecology and Biogeography · 2025-08-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT Aim Abiotic environmental conditions shape ecological and evolutionary processes, yet quantifying their influence on organisms remains challenging due to variation among metrics and their intercorrelations. This study evaluates the utility of temporal environmental predictability measures and assesses their explanatory power in phylogenetic comparative analyses. Innovation We systematically compare widely used metrics of predictability and explore their correlations with environmental means and variances in a global meteorological dataset. Using cooperative breeding birds as a case study, we assess the impact of including predictability metrics in phylogenetic comparative analyses. We demonstrate the consequences of choosing specific metrics and the trade‐offs between increased data inclusion and model interpretability. Main Conclusions Predictability metrics, though intuitively meaningful, have been conceptualised and quantified with diverse approaches. We found that different measures of predictability can exhibit contrasting global patterns and strong correlations with other environmental quantities. Therefore, our findings caution against overloading statistical analyses with correlated predictors, highlighting the need for a thoughtful selection of environmental metrics to avoid spurious interpretations in ecological and evolutionary studies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Abstract B092: Mechanisms of PARP7 inhibition-induced tumor cell death: A novel therapeutic for non-small cell lung cancer with tumor-intrinsic and immune-dependent pathways

  Cancer Immunology Research · 2025-02-23

  article

  Abstract Poly-adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribose polymerase 7 (PARP7) is an enzyme that postranslationally modifies target proteins with an ADP-ribose group, which is required for multiple cellular processes, including DNA repair, immune function, and cellular metabolism. Recent studies have identified a subset of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) exhibiting cancer dependency to PARP7, suggesting that PARP7 may be a therapeutic target for NSCLC. In addition, PARP7 was recently identified as an immune evasion mechanism for cancer cells to escape immune surveillance by dampening the type I interferon (IFN) response to nucleic acid sensors. Targeted inhibition of PARP7 by a small molecule inhibitor, RBN-2397, restored type I IFN signaling to nucleic acid sensing signals, inducing both tumor intrinsic cell death and immune activation that together led to tumor regression. However, the specific signaling mediators of PARP7 inhibition (PARP7i)-mediated tumor cell death and host immune activation remain unknown. In addition, because PARP7 dependency in NSCLC is not driven by genomic mutations, biomarkers of sensitivity/resistance to PARP7 have not been identified. Thus, there is a critical demand for mechanistic studies of PARP7i and biomarker identification of PARP7 sensitivity for patient stratification of future trials. To identify the mechanistic signaling mediators involved in tumor regression mediated by PARP7i, we performed a single cell RNA-sequencing assay on PARP7 sensitive and resistant NSCLC cell lines treated with RBN-2397, and identified top 10 candidate differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that may play a role in the PARP7i-induced killing of tumor cells. We established single gene knockouts (KO) of the top 3 genes in a NSCLC sensitive cell line using the CRISPR-Cas9 technology to determine the functional role of these DEGs in PARP7i-induced tumor intrinsic cytotoxicity. Preliminary data suggests there are multiple pathways involved in PARP7i-mediated tumor cell death. In parallel, we designed a CRISPR pool library KO screen to probe hundreds of candidate signaling molecules using an enrichment-based assay. To identify potential biomarkers of PARP7 dependency in human NSCLC patients, we assessed PARP7 dependency of primary tumor surgical resections from NSCLC patients in both 2D cell culture and 3D Patient Derived Organoids (PDOs) using an optimized drug dose response proliferation assay. We will further probe for molecular and genetic differences between PARP7 dependent vs independent phenotypes to identify potential biomarkers for PARP7 dependency. These studies will elucidate the signaling mediators and uncover new mechanisms by which PARP7i leads to anti-tumor effect via both tumor-intrinsic and immune regulatory pathways, and identify potential biomarkers of PARP7 dependency that will facilitate effective patient stratification for future trials evaluating PARP7 inhibitors as a potential therapy for NSCLC. Citation Format: Nalani J. Coleman, Ji-Ann Lee, Camelia Dumitras, Gauri Gusain, Dylan Conklin, Michael Palazzolo, Bitta P. Kahangi, Austin K. Rennels, Jensen Abascal, William P. Crosson, Michael S. Oh, Edgar Perez Reyes, Carlos Botero, Hong Jiang, Alvaro Chumpitaz Lavalle, Shahed Tappuni, Emily Melik Aslanian, Jie Deng, Ramin Salehi-Rad, Linh M. Tran, Kostyantyn Krysan, Bin Liu, Steven M. Dubinett. Mechanisms of PARP7 inhibition-induced tumor cell death: A novel therapeutic for non-small cell lung cancer with tumor-intrinsic and immune-dependent pathways [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR IO Conference: Discovery and Innovation in Cancer Immunology: Revolutionizing Treatment through Immunotherapy; 2025 Feb 23-26; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2025;13(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B092.

  PublisherDOI

• Variable and mismatching temperature regimes impair song learning in zebra finches

  Animal Behaviour · 2025-01-22 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Climate change is characterized by extreme climatic events and unpredictable environmental conditions, increasing the probability of condition mismatch during the lives of animals. Mismatched conditions between development and adulthood can negatively affect traits, especially those subjected to developmental programming. Thus, an environmental mismatch between song acquisition during development and song production during adulthood could affect the song quality and reproductive success of birds. In this study, the effects of temperature variability and condition mismatch on song learning and production in captive zebra finches, Taeniopygia castanotis , were investigated. Males developed in either stable or variable temperatures, and then experienced a mismatch in thermal conditions at independence. Their crystallized song was recorded at adulthood, and their song learning and quality traits were evaluated. Condition mismatch affected only song traits acquired during development, with a decrease in the proportion of syllables copied from the tutor and a trend towards decreasing repertoire size. The syllable learning accuracy also tended to be lower for birds experiencing variable temperatures. Other song learning and quality traits were unaffected by temperature variability or condition mismatch. Collectively, our results indicate that climate change can negatively affect song learning and quality in songbirds. • Condition mismatch at independence decreased the proportion of copied syllables. • Birds developing in variable temperature learned their syllables less accurately. • Variable conditions had no effect on song production and spectral characteristics.

  PublisherDOI

• Holistic Approach to Human Performance Improvement

  2024-09-10

  article

  Abstract Despite technology and digital developments, human performance continues to be the most determinant organizational success factor. Authors have successfully developed a business ecosystem that speeds up the maturity of the management system with statistically significant improvements in the organization's culture, and business performance. The paper shows three interdependent methods implemented by three organizations over the last three years in Latin America, including methodology, leading and impact indicators. Building on previous quasi-experimental research, authors continue to evolve a business ecosystem that elicits sustainable human performance improvements (Lopez et.al. 2022, 2023). The ecosystem encompasses three interdependent solutions, all based on organizational and industrial psychology scientific research and extensive hands-on experience. Leading with purpose coaching program guides leaders to adapt transformational behaviors, in line with their organizations' vision and values, and support the other two solutions, Situational Awareness training provides front-line crews with suitable and sufficient competencies to manage dynamic risks, and the Engineering Human Performance methodology achieves procedural adherence by employees' engagement and conviction. Results in three oil and gas organizations including workover, drilling, asset integrity, construction, and production facilities operation and maintenance are presented. Results include leading and impact indicators. Suitable statistical models are used to measure the impact of the solutions in the business performance, per solution and per organization. Leading with Purpose uses Bass and Avolio (1995) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire to assess leaders' behavioral profile, to foster alignment with the corporate vision and values. This psychometric tool is applied before and after the coaching sessions. ‘Repeated measures – ANOVA’ model determines whether the coaching has statistically significant impacts on the leaders' profile, individually and collectively. Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique, SAGAT (Endsley, 2003) measures the impact of situational awareness training. SAGAT is applied before and after training workshops. ‘Repeated measures – ANOVA’ model determines whether the training program has statistically significant impacts on trainees' non-technical competencies, individually and collectively. Engineering Human Performance uses Heat Maps to identify teams with concerning procedural adherence trends and intervene before an accident occurs. Regression curves are used to measure the levels of procedural adherence and variance per behavior, so front line teams improve adherence where they specifically need to improve. The paper shares a holistic, integrated approach to human performance improvement, using three interdependent solutions, developed from authors' experience and industrial psychology scientific research. Another novel element in the paper is the adaptation of best practices from highly advanced industries in human performance, to the oil and gas sector. An essential element of the paper is the demonstration of the return on the investment by doing predictive safety through statistical models.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• EAGER: Removing barriers to macro-ecoevolutionary studies of the avian brain

  NSF · $150k · 2018–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Russell D. Gray

  University of Auckland

  148 shared

• Simon J. Greenhill

  University of Auckland

  131 shared

• Hannah J. Haynie

  Kent State University

  123 shared

• Angela M. Chira

  Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

  112 shared

• Johann‐Mattis List

  109 shared

• Lyle Campbell

  108 shared

• Robert M. Ross

  Macquarie University

  72 shared

• Michael C. Gavin

  Colorado State University

  42 shared

Education

• Ph. D., Neurobiology and Behavior

  Cornell University

  2007