Pilar L. Maia Braga is a biologist who graduated in 2012 from Federal University of Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys (UFVJM), and holds an MSc and PhD in Ecology from National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA). As field coordinator and researcher for the Amazon, Biodiversity and Carbon – ABC Expeditions project, she has led research in ornithology, biogeography, community ecology and bird conservation. She currently works to understand the macroecological patterns of bird diversity in tropical forests, with a primary focus on the Amazon.