People
Current lab members
Yakshi Ortiz-Maldonado, Research Assistant
Contact: yakshi.ortiz@upr.edu
Yakshi did her BSc. and her MSc. in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras. Her thesis focused understanding the role of microorganisms associated to roots, rhizobiomes, in the weathering of silicate rocks at the tropics. The weathering of these rocks, especially when they have high concentrations of Calcium and Magnesium is known to affect the short- and the long Carbon cycles. Now, she is working at TLSE-lab analyzing rock samples that were incubated for 4 years in order to continue characterizing microbial communities involved in rock weathering.
Laura Ospina, Graduate Student
Contact: lauosgom@gmail.com
Laura completed her BSc. in Biology at Universidad EAFIT at Medellín, Colombia. She is currently in her last year to complete a MSc. in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras. Her research is aimed at understanding the role of plant functional diversity on landslide occurrence at tropical mountains. Towards this end, she relies on Machine Learning algorithms to delimit landslides areas in historical aerial images from Sierra de Las Minas, Guatemala. In addition, she is doing a global meta-analysis to compare the plant taxonomic and functional diversity in landslide and forest areas. Finally, she is relying on remote sensing data (Landsat and Lidar) to generate continuous maps of functional diversity at Sierra de Las Minas. Her future goals include working in a company that offers GIS-based solutions.
Ana Kilgore, Post-Bac
Contact: ana.kilgore@upr.edu
Ana recently completed her BSc. in Organismal Biology and Ecology at Colorado College. Now, she is studying whether ecosystems possess an ecological memory that allows them to “remember” where landslides occured. The aims of her research are to analyze landslide spatial patterns in the Sierras de las Minas of Guatemala over a timeframe of more than 50 years. By creating an inventory using ERDAS Imagine and ArcGIS to extract landslide scars from satellite imagery, she’s working to identify topographic and bioclimatic factors relating to individual landslide occurrence as well as examine the dynamics of landslide recovery and immunity.
Francisco Diaz-Collado, Undergrad Student
Contact: francisco.diaz17@upr.edu
Francisco is currently in his 4th year in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico. He has been working for the last three years at the TLSE-lab. He started as a volunteer, became fascinated and continued here with us. In the lab, his research is focused on characterizing tree growth patterns through dendrochronology using tree cores to ultimately infer climate conditions that led to those growing patterns. In the future, he is thinking in pursuing graduate studies in Public Health.
Rachel Cruz-Pérez, Undegrad Student
Contact: rachel.cruz@upr.edu
Rachel is currently in her last year on a dual BSc. in Environmental Sciences and Biology at the University of Puerto Rico. She has been working at TLSE-lab for the last one and a half year. Her research is focused on how biotic and abiotic factors influence plant functional traits, namely root tensile strength. Towards this end, she is compiling the first global root tensile strength database, which will help strengthen our knowledge of belowground interactions and its effects on ecosystem processes. Upon completion of her bachelor’s degree, she wants to enter graduate school to complete a PhD focusing on the intersection between terrestrial ecology and soil biogeochemistry.
Alanis Rosa Santiago, Undergrad Student
Contact: alanis.rosa1@upr.edu
Alanis is currently at her 4th year in Biology at the University of Puerto Rico. She has been working for the last one and a half year at TLSE-lab. Her research is focused on characterizing the functional diversity of plant communities developing on landslides. For her graduate studies she would like to continue studying the influence of the environment and disturbances on plant communities.
Past lab members
Postdocs
Lindsey Sutton
Contact: lsutton05@gmail.com
Ph.D., Arizona State University
Postdoc: Natural hazards, landslides, and livelihoods in the Sierra de Las Minas of eastern Guatemala.
Carlos Ramos-Sharron
Contact: cramos_scharron@yahoo.com
Ph.D., Colorado State University
Postdoc: The transfer of modern organic carbon by landslide activity in a tropical montane ecosystem in Guatemala.
Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Univesity of Texas at Austin.
Graduate Students
Diana Delgado-Rivera
Contact: diana.delgadorivera@upr.edu
Ph.D., Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras
Thesis: Disentangling vine-invaded landscapes: From individual vine patches to vine networks
Current position: Lecturer, Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Bayamón.
Zuania Colon-Piñeiro
Contact: zcolonp@gmail.com
M.Sc., Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras
Thesis: The effect of temperature on the development of Eleutherodactylus coqui: integrating the mechanisms that influence the phenotype
Current position: PhD Student at University of Florida, Gainesville
Johanna Delgado-Acevedo
Contact: johannadelgado@yahoo.com
M.Sc., Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras
Thesis: Effects of land-use change on the morphology of Puerto Rican Frogs.
Current position: Associate Professor, Texas at A&M Commerce.
Andres Cuervo
Contact: amcuervo@gmail.com
M.Sc., Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras
Thesis: Phenotypic effects of forest fragmention on tropical montane birds: Variation in developmental stability, morphology, and feather growth rates.
Current position: Assistant Professor and Curator of Birds, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.