I have a B.S. in Biology with specialization in Zoology from the University of Panama, in which I also obtained a certificate for teaching at high school. Later I obtained a Doctorate of Third Cycle (Ph.D.) in Oceanology at the University of Aix Marseille II, France.

My bachelor's and doctoral theses focused on applied biology (aquaculture and fishing). And although I taught at the University of Panama and at public high schools, most of my professional life was developed at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, studying and learning about marine bryozoans from both coasts of the Isthmus of Panama.

Thereby, I studied their taxonomy by examining the morphology of the exoskeleton and the fleshy parts. The ecology, investigating their distribution and abundance along the coasts and intertidal zones of Panama. The natural history doing experiments on breeding: to study growth, survival and cross-fertilization, with the most abundant species found on the Caribbean reefs. And the evolution using morphometric characters to discriminate the species of recent and fossil cupuladriids, and to analyze their phylogenetic relationships. The specimens used in this work had ages between early Miocene to Recent, and were distributed from the Caribbean to the eastern tropical Pacific.

I have recently completed the curation of 22 dredging collections and 11 in intertidal zones made in coastal and insular areas of the gulfs of Panama and Chiriqui, between 1986 and 1996. And together with STRI OIT, we have put on line the Database: The Bryozoan from the Pacific. Currently I am working on the description of the new species.

Article

• Simpson, Carl, Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia, and Jackson, Jeremy B. C. 2020. "How colonial animals evolve." Science Advances, 6, (2) Article eaaw9530. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw9530. 2020
• Simpson, Carl, Jackson, Jeremy B. C., and Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia. 2017. "Evolutionary Determinants of Morphological Polymorphism in Colonial Animals." American Naturalist, 190, (1) 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1086/691789. 2017
• Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia and Jackson, Jeremy B. C. 2014. "Phylogeny of Genus Cupuladria (Bryozoa, Cheilostomata) in the Neogene of Tropical America." Journal of Paleontology, 88, (5) 851–894. https://doi.org/10.1666/13-031. 2014
• Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia, Dick, M. H., Sanner, Jo Ann, and Jackson, Jeremy B. C. 2008. "Neogene Cupuladriidae of Tropical America. II: Taxonomy of Recent Discoporella from opposite side of the Isthmus of Panamá." Journal of Paleontology, 82, (2) 279–298. https://doi.org/10.1666/06-034.1. 2008

Chapter

• Schäfer, Priska, Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia, and Bader, Beate. 2012. "Distribution and zoogeography of Cheilostome Bryozoa along the Pacific coast of Panama: comparison between the gulf of Panama and gulf of Chiriqui." In Bryozoan Studies 2010. Ernst, Andrej, Schäfer, Priska, and Scholz, Joachim, editors. 287–302. Berlin: Springer. In Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences. 2012
• Cortes, Jorge, Nielsen, Vanessa, and Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia. 2009. "Bryozoans." In Marine Biodiversity of Costa Rica, Central America. Wehrtmann, I. S. and Cortes, J., editors. 413–416. Springer Science Business Media B. V. 2009

Report

• Herrera Cubilla, Amalia. 2016. Conservacion de Colecciones de Historia Natural Briozoos o "Animales Musgo". Panama, Republica de Panama: Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion and STRI. 2016

Webpage

• Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia. 2017. Bryozoans of The Pacific. Bryozoans of The Pacific. Apr 11, 2017 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. 2017
• Cheetham, Alan H., Sanner, Joann, Jackson, Jeremy B. C., Taylor, Paul D., Ventocilla, Yira, and Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia. 2010. Bryozoans. Neogene Marine Biota of Tropical America. University of Iowa. 2010

Presentation

• Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia. 2004. Morphological description of the setae of four species of the family Cupuladriidae from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama [presentation]. 13th IBA Conference u6 Concepcion, Chile, January 16, 2004.
• Herrera-Cubilla, Amalia. 2004. Taxonomy of the genus Cupuladria from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. I. Morphology and Systematics [presentation]. 13th IBA Conference u6 Concepcion, Chile, January 16, 2004.