I am a Biologist specializing in Behavioral and Chemical Ecology.
My interest lies on understanding the intricate world of social organization, evolution, and animal communication.
I am driven by a desire to comprehend the chemical cues and signals used by social organisms for coordinating collective responses, their perception of these chemicals, and the influence of ecological, social, and environmental conditions on these communication systems.
E-mail/Researchgate/ORCID/LinkedIn/GitHub
Doctor of Philosophy in Natural Sciences
JMU-Würzburg - Würzburg, Germany (2021-2025)
Master of Science in Biosciences
JMU-Würzburg - Würzburg, Germany (2017-2020)
Bachelor of Science in Biology
Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Bogotá D.C., Colombia (2011-2016)
Doctoral researcher in the Zoo3 department of the Biocentre
Faculty of Biology, JMU-Würzburg - Würzburg, Germany (January - June 2024)
- Project: Function of cuticular hydrocarbons of honey bees.
- Teaching: Chemical ecology practical course for Master and Bachelor students.
Part‑time research Assistant in the Zoo3 department of the Biocentre
Faculty of Biology, JMU-Würzburg - Würzburg, Germany (December 2020 - December 2023)
- Activities: Extraction and GC/MS analysis of cuticular hydrocarbons.
International Student Tutor in the Kompass Program of the Faculty of Biology
JMU-Würzburg - Würzburg, Germany (November 2018 - September 2020)
Biology teacher
Grupo Formarte S.A.S - Bogotá D.C., Colombia (January - September 2017)
Internship in the Biodiversity Sciences program of the Line of Risk Assessment and Wildlife
Instituto Alexander von Humboldt - Bogotá D.C., Colombia (August 2016 - February 2017)
Course in Social Evolution
Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen - Copenhagen, Denmark (November 2019)
Seminar in Intercultural Competences
Faculty of Biology, JMU-Würzburg - Würzburg, Germany (April -July 2018)
Course in Models of Species distribution
Faculty of Science, Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Bogotá D.C., Colombia (September 2016 - February 2017)
Research article: Rodríguez‑León DS, Schmitt T, Pinto MA, Thamm M, & Scheiner R. (2025). Expression of Elongase- and Desaturase-Encoding Genes Shapes the Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles of Honey Bees. Molecular Ecology e17716. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17716
Research article: Rodríguez-León DS, Uzunov A, Costa C, Elen D, Charistos L, Galea T, Gabel M, Scheiner R, Pinto MA, & Schmitt T. (2024). Deciphering the variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of six European honey bee subspecies. BMC Ecology and Evolution. 24(1), 131. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02325-z
Research article: Rodríguez-León, DS, López-Arévalo HF. (2019). Variación de la abundancia relativa de perros en un gradiente de presencia humana en dos reservas privadas (Tabio, Cundinamarca). Acta biol. Colomb. 2019;24(2):379-390. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15446/abc.v24n2.70608
Data set: Rodríguez-León DS, Schmitt T, Pinto MA, Thamm M, & Scheiner R. (2025). Expression of elongase- and desaturase-encoding genes shapes the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of honey bees. figshare. Software. DOI: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26831491.v1
R package: Rodríguez‑León DS (2024). analyzeGC: Analysis of GC data https://github.com/dsrodriguezl/analyzeG
Data set: Rodríguez-León DS, Uzunov A, Costa C, Elen D, Charistos L, Galea T, et al. (2024). Deciphering the variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of six European honey bee subspecies. figshare. Software. DOI: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26831008.v1
R package: Rodríguez‑León DS (2023). easyqpcr2: Custom package based on the abandoned EasyqpcR package. https://github.com/dsrodriguezl/easyqpcr2
Presentation: Honey bee (Apis mellifera) CHC variations: New insight from desaturases and elongases expression assays
European meeting of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI) - Lausanne, Switzerland (July 8, 2024)
Presentation: The expression of elongases and desaturases shed light on the CHC plasticity of honey bees (Apis mellifera)
7th meeting of the Central European Section of the IUSSI - Cluj-Napoca, Romania (September 19, 2023)
Presentation: Honeybee workers display task-related and subspecific patterns in their cuticular hydrocarbon profiles
Symposium of Communication and Chemical Ecology, 9th European Congress of Apidology - Belgrade, Serbia (September 22, 2022)
Poster: Variation of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles among honeybee workers with different social roles and between different Apis mellifera subspecies
113th Meeting of the German Zoology Society - Virtual Meeting via Zoom (August 31, 2021)
Flash presentation: Variation of the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles among honeybees
workers with different social roles and between different Apis mellifera subspecies
68th Annual Meeting of the Working Group of the Institutes for Bee Research e.V. - Virtual Meeting via Zoom (March 24, 2021)
Poster: Research of the biology and behavior of feral dogs in the PNN Chingaza, for an understanding of their ecological role – Project presentation
II Symposium of Animal Behavior. IV Colombian Congress of Zoology. - Cartagena D.T., Colombia (December 2014)
Doctoral fellowship Foreigners promotion of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung - Würzburg, Germany (January 2021 - December 2023)
Member of the Doctoral Researchers Council of the Graduated School of Life Sciences
JMU-Würzburg - Würzburg, Germany (January 2022 - February 2025)
International Student Tutor in the Kompass Program of the Faculty of Biology
JMU-Würzburg - Würzburg, Germany (September 2020 - February 2025)
MS Office: Advanced knowledge (User)
R: Advanced knowledge
Python: Beginner
Git: Basic knowledge
Spanish: Mother tongue
English: Advanced (C1)
German: Intermediate (B2)
Romanian: Beginner