Graduate Student, Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
MSc. Biology (Ecology) - August 2005
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, Brazil
Bach. Biology - August 2002
Universidade de Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil
Ongoing Research
Overall, the main goal of my Ph.D. research is to understand the evolution of Chamaecostus species’ distribution.
The Chamaecostus genus is a small South American plant group composed of low herbs that hardly pass 1 m of height. These ground herbs are commonly found in riparian forests and adjacent slopes over or near exposed rocks or in sandy soils in the forest understory.
During my visit at Specht's Lab, I am using phylogenetic analysis to reconstruct ancestral distributions within Chamaecostus to relate them with extant species range and distributions. I'm also working on phylogeography to reveal the geographical distribution of genetic variation in Chamaecostus subsessilis, a species mainly found in seasonally dry forests of Central Brazil.