Melissa Sanchez Herrera
PhD in Ecology and Evolution
Postdoctoral Researcher Universidad del Rosario
Bogota, Colombia
Member of @ENTOPOC
President Dragonfly Society of the Americas (2021-2023)

Publications
Manpreet K. Kohli, Marie Djernæs, Melissa Sanchez-Herrera, Göran Sahlén, Erik Pilgrim, Thomas Simonsen, Kent Olsen, Jessica L. Ware. Comparative phylogeography uncovers evolutionary past of Holarctic dragonflies. PeerJ. Accepted
Vanessa Amaya-Vallejo, Cornelio Bota-Sierra, Rodolfo Novelo-Gutiérrez, Melissa Sanchez-Herrera. "Two new species of Archaeopodagrion (Odonata, Philogeniidae) from the western foothills of the Tropical Andes, with biological observations and distributional records." ZooKeys. Accepted.
Bybee, S.M., Kalkman, V.J., Erickson, R.J., Frandsen, P.B., Breinholt, J.W., Suvorov, A., Dijkstra, K.-D.B., Cordero-Rivera, A., Skevington, J.H., Abbott, J.C., Sanchez Herrera, M., Lemmon, A.R., Moriarty Lemmon, E. & Ware, J.L. Phylogeny and classification of Odonata using targeted genomics. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2021)160, 107115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107115
Fabian C Salgado-Roa, Andres Gamez, Melissa Sanchez-Herrera, Carolina Pardo-Díaz, Camilo Salazar, Divergence promoted by the northern Andes in the giant fishing spider Ancylometes bogotensis (Araneae: Ctenidae), Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 132, Issue 3, March 2021, Pages 495–508, https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa220
Melissa Sánchez-Herrera, Christopher Beatty, Renato Nunes, Camilo Salazar, Jessica L. Ware. An exploration of the complex biogeographical history of the Neotropical banner-wing damselflies (Odonata: Polythoridae). BMC Evolutionary Biology 20, 74 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-020-01638-z
Valentina Caicedo-Garzón, Fabian C. Salgado-Roa, Melissa Sánchez-Herrera, Carolina Hernández, Luisa María Arias-Giraldo, Lineth García, Gustavo Vallejo, Omar Cantillo, Catalina Tovar, Joao Aristeu da Rosa, Hernán Carrasco, Maikell Segovia, CamiloSalazar, Juan David Ramírez. Genetic diversification of Panstrongylus geniculatus (Reduviidae: Triatominae) in northern South America. PLoS ONE 14(10):e0223963.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223963
Carolina Pardo-Diaz, Alejandro Lopera Toro , Sergio A Peña Tovar, Rodrigo Sarmiento-Garcés, Melissa Sanchez Herrera, Camilo Salazar. 2019. Taxonomic reassessment of the genus Dichotomius (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) through integrative taxonomy. PeerJ 7:e7332 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.733
Adolfo Cordero–Rivera, Iago Sanmartín–Villar, Melissa Sánchez Herrera, Anais Rivas–Torres, Andrea Encalada, 2019. Survival and longevity in neotropical damselflies (Odonata, Polythoridae). Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 42.2: 293–300, https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2019.42.0293
Cornelio Bota, Melissa Sánchez Herrera, Fredy Palacino. Odonata from protected areas in Colombia with new records and description of Cora verapax sp. nov. (Zygoptera: Polythoridae). 2018. Zootaxa. 4462 (1): 115–131. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4462.1.5
Christopher Beatty, Melissa Sánchez Herrera, Jeffrey H. Skevington, Arash Rashed, Hans van Gossum, Scott Kelso, Thomas Sherrat. Biogeography and systematics of endemic island damselflies: The Nesobasis and Melanesobasis (Odonata: Zygoptera) of Fiji. Ecology and Evolution. 7:7117-7129. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.3175
Melissa Sánchez Herrera, Christopher Beatty, Renato Nunes, Emilio Realpe, Camilo Salazar and Jessica L. Ware. A molecular systematic analysis of the Neotropical banner winged damselfies (Polythoridae: Odonata. Systematic Entomology. In press, 2017. DOI: 10.1111/syen.12249
Melissa Sánchez Herrera, William R Kuhn, Maria Olalla Lorenzo-Carballa, Kathleen M Harding, Nikole Ankrom, Thomas N Sherratt, Joachim Hoffmann, Hans Van Gossum, Jessica L Ware, Adolfo Cordero-Rivera, Christopher D Beatty: Mixed Signals? Morphological and Molecular Evidence Suggest a Color Polymorphism in Some Neotropical Polythore Damselflies. PLoS ONE 04/2015; 10(4): e0125074. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0125074
Jessica L. Ware, Christopher D. Beatty, Melissa Sánchez Herrera, Steve Valley, Jim Johnson, Cary Kerst, Michael L. May, Gunther Theischinger: The petaltail dragonflies (Odonata: Petaluridae): Mesozoic habitat specialists that survive to the modern day. Journal of Biogeography 05/2014; 41(7). DOI:10.1111/jbi.12273
Melissa Sánchez Herrera, Emilio Realpe, Camilo Salazar: A neotropical polymorphic damselfly shows poor congruence between genetic and traditional morphological characters in Odonata. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 11/2010; 57(2):912-7. DOI:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.08.016
Melissa Sánchez-Herrera, Emilio Realpe: Population structure of Polythore procera at a Colombian stream (Odonata: Polythoridae). International Journal of Odonatology 04/2010; 13(1):27-37. DOI:10.1080/13887890.2010.9748358
Nancy Rojas-Riaño, Melissa Sánchez Herrera.2009. New Records of Acanthagrion (Odonata: Coenagrionidae) from Colombia. Bulletin of American Odonatology. 11(1) 17-19.
Book Chapters
Jessica Ware, Melissa Sánchez-Herrera: Biogeography of dragonflies and damselflies: the highly mobile predators. Global Advances in Biogeography, 03/2012; ISBN: 978-953-51-0454-4
Notes Science Communication
Dominic A Evangelista, Aaron Goodman, Manpreet K Kohli, Stephanie S T Bondocgawa Maflamills, Michelle Samuel-Foo, Melissa Sanchez Herrera, Jessica L Ware, Megan Wilson, Why Diversity Matters Among Those Who Study Diversity, American Entomologist, Volume 66, Issue 3, Fall 2020, Pages 42–49, https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/tmaa037
Sánchez-Herrera M, Amaya, V & Mongui, J.P. 2020. Fishing dragons in Colombia! A collecting daydreaming during COVID-19 times. Agrion, Covid-19 Special Issue - Volume 24, Number 2. 139-143.
Ian Biazzo, Godfrey R Bourne, Dominic Evangelista, Joseph Evangelista, V. Funk, Melissa Sánchez-Herrera, C. Kelloff, Manpreet K Kohli, William Robert Kuhn, Nicole Sroczynski, Jessica L Ware: Guyana Days: Collecting in the Northern Guyana Shield. Argia, DSA Newsletter.
Outreach and Education
Videos

Las libélulas: Una conexión entre el agua y el aire.

Siguiendo los pasos evolutivos de una libélula con alas coloridas. Con Melissa Sánchez, PhD

BioBus Student Town Hall: Dragonflies
Interviews - Podcasts
How One Entomologist Brings a Passion for Science Back to Her Home Country. Entomology Today. Available from: https://entomologytoday.org/2021/03/30/entomologist-science-colombia-melissa-sanchez-herrera-standout-early-career-professional/ (April 5, 2021)
BugTalk. Ep. 29: Entomologists of Color (EntoPOC). https://bugtalk.buzzsprout.com/911479/5347555-ep-29-entomologists-of-color-entopoc