Postdoctoral researchers awarded IEB fellowships

Dr. Christopher Anderson
Ph.D., University of Georgia, USA (2006)
Dr. Anderson's research focuses on understanding the role of invasive species at the landscape scale in the Chilean subantarctic archipelago, associated with the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity's transversal themes: Global Change Impacts and Conservation and Society. Specifically, he conducted a study of the influence of introduced beavers (Castor canadensis) on the patterns of benthic invertebrate diversity at the landscape level and the effect of these changes related to food web dynamics between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Christopher began his two year postdoctoral fellowship in September 2006. Actually he is Assistant Professor from de University of North Texas and Coordinator of the Biocultural Sub-Antarctic Program.

Dra. Olga Barbosa
PhD., Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2005)
Postdoctoral Associate, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (2005-2006)
Considering climate change and the high rate of land transformation for agriculture in the Mediterranean region of Chile, Dr. Barbosa coordinates the project Wine, Climate Change and Biodiversity, under the direction of Dr. Pablo Marquet (focus 1). This project is being developed in partnership with the Chilean wine industry in order to increase the impact of our scientific work on society. The two main objectives of our project include: a) To evaluate potential effects of climate change on the current distributions of Chilean Premium vineyards and to develop strategies with wine companies to face this new scenario, and b) by identifying and evaluating the ecosystem services that support Chilean vineyards, develop sustainable management practices that will encourage the coexistence of native biodiversity within vineyards. Olga began her postdoctoral fellowship in May 2008.

Dr. Leah Dudley
Ph.D., University of Missouri, Columbia, USA (2006)
Dr. Dudley studies the impact of dioecious plants on insect community dynamics using native Chilean species to determine: 1) if male and female plants differ in pollinator or natural enemy attractivenes; 2) if the manipulation of natural enemy abundance and access affect male and female plant fitness; and 3) if the spatial distribution of male and female plants affect pollinator and natural enemy visitation. She will study the effects that plants may produce by possessing two sex morphs on focal species' biodiversity at multiple trophic levels, pollinator, herbivore, and natural enemy. Her investigations are one of several at the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB): Biogeography and Paleoecology. Leah began her two year postdoctoral position in October 2006. Actually Leah is a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, USA.

Dr. Aurora Gaxiola
Ph.D., University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (2005)
Considering that increased atmospheric Nitrogen deposition impacts the balance between mineral nutrients and plant productivity, Dr. Gaxiola research addresses this interplay by focusing on plant functional traits and soil Nitrogen-to-Phosphorus ratios (N:P) in local ecosystems. The objectives are the following: 1) evaluate the relationship between soil natural N:P and plant functional diversity of temperate and dry ecosystems of Chile; 2) evaluate, through the use of soil and plant N:P to what extent are ecosystems naturally N- or P-limited; and 3) evaluate species response capacity to human-induced shifts of soil N:P. The aim of her project is two fold, firstly to understand species response capacity to shifts in nutrient limitation and secondly to use
these results as a means of predicting responses of Chilean ecosystems to global change. Her research is being conducted in association with investigation focus 2 of the IEB: Ecosystem Ecology. Aurora began a two year postdoctoral fellowship in September 2006 and actually she continued doing research associated to IEB.

Dr. Wouter van Dongen
Ph.D., University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (2005)
Dr. van Dongen is conducting an investigation exploring microevolutionary processes and the adaptive evolution of native Chilean species to different habitats, combining field-based behavioural observations and experiments with laboratory-based genetic work. Specifically, he will determine the factors influencing large-scale species distributions and small-scale patch-level adaptation to local environmental constraints. This investigation will provide novel insights into the microevolutionary consequences of the large environmental gradients existing within Chile and the factors promoting or constraining species range expansion and speciation. His research is being conducted in association with investigation focus 3 of the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB): Microevolutionary processes. Wouter began his two year postdoctoral fellowship in September 2006. At present he is doing a Postdoctoral project associated to IEB and funded by CONICYT, Chile.

Dr. Fabio Labra
Doctorate Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile (2005)
His research focuses on understanding the processes that determine the diversity and abundance of species at large temporal and geographic scales, within the theme of Biogeography of IEB's focus 1, Biogeography and Paleoecology, including research approaches from Macroecology, Ecoinformatics and Biogeography. Specifically, he is currently developing dynamic mathematical models to study species' niche, using individual based simulation models. Fabio began his two year postdoctoral fellowship in July 2006. At present He is Assistant Professor at the Universidad Santo Tomás, Chile.

Dr. José Miguel Rojas
Doctorate Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile (2005)
His studies are referred to the influence of cognitive processes on the development of antipredatory decisions related with space use in the rodent Octodon degus. These studies are conducted with individuals belonging to isolated populations, located between the IV and V regions of Chile, and captivity animals. The use of different population obey to the idea of evaluate the influence of environment as a source of bias in the decision make process, associate to the individual experience of predation risk. Particularly, Dr. Rojas aims to evaluate the development of cognitive maps as a decision strategy of space use, considering as the central focus the spatial memory. In this sense, he expects to estimate the importance of ecological and/or evolutionary aspects on the development of individual skills for habitat use, in relation to laboratory studies and the available genetic and population information for the mentioned regions. These studies are framed in the development of the IEB investigation focus "Microevolutionary Processes". José Miguel started his one year post doctoral fellowship in August of 2006.

Dra. Paola Jara-Arancio
Doctorate, Universidad de Chile (2010)
Dr. Jara-Arancio research focuses on phylogenetic reconstruction, cytogenetic and morphology in plant species, and the existing relationship between the evolutionary processes, and physiographic and climate changes that took place from the period of origination of of the species, up to their current diversifications. Specifically, Paola is conducting  a phylogenetic study in plant genera from the central Andes and Southern areas in Chile, trying to relate evolutionary processes to the physiography  of the habitat and  structural and / or reproductive modifications. Paola began her two-year postdoctoral scholarship in July, 2010.

Dr. Michael Shawn Fletcher
PhD., University from Melbourne, Australia (2008)
Dr. Fletcher work consists on establishing a modern database of pollen. Specifically he will be addressing the question of how faithfully does  modern pollen rain  in the study areas reflects  vegetation composition. A relation will be established between modern pollen, vegetation and environmental gradient, in order to answer whether the  relation among environment– pollen-modern vegetation can be used to derive robust paleoclimatical reconstructions  from the pollen record . In addition he will compare paleoclimatic and cultural changes in high latitude regions  in Chile. Michael began his 2-year Postdoctoral scholarship  in March, 2009.

Dra. Karin Françoise Gerard
PhD., Universidad del Mediterráneo, Marseille, France (March 2009)
Dr. Gerard is testing hypotheses related to the origin of the marine bentonic fauna that borders the Antarctic continent. This fauna has always been considered to be part of the most isolated ecosystem of the planet, due to the existence of supposedly impassable barriers installed dozens of million years ago. It is considered that the current circumpolar Antarctic has generated an oceanographic isolation of the continent at the beginning of the Miocene, after the separation of South America and the Antarctic. Karin proposes to use molecular tools to estimate the times of difference between congeneric species of asteroideos of the Odontaster genera. These species, that possess planctotrphyc larvas of long duration, allow to address this question
Karin initiated her Postdoctoral work of one year in March, 2009. Nowadays she is pursuing a postdoctorate project financed by CONICYT, Chile.

Dr. Jaime Madrigal González
PhD., Universidad de Salamanca, Spain (2008)
Dr. Madrigal research focuses on exploring the influence of shrubs in herbaceous semiarid communities of Chile, studying spatial-temporal implications. The specific aims are: 1) To study the direct effects (microscale) of shrubs on herbaceous communities and 2) to analyze the spatial andtemporal dependence of the shrub-herb interactions as well as to deepen into ecological recoveries that this interaction promotes over the control that other environmental factors exercise on the species composition and the diversity of the herbaceous stratum. The area of study is located in the Fray Jorge National Park (IVth Region, Chile).
Jaime began his 2 year Postdoctoral scholarship in February, 2009.

Dra. Wendy Ridenour
Ph.D., University of Montana
Her work centered on studying how cushion plants, tolerant to the stress of Andean environments, can lessen reactions of the Alpine communities to the future climate changes. Specifically, she studied cushion plants as a model system to incorporate the interactions of species in a basic prediction of how global warming will affect the future distribution of plants. Wendy began her Postdoctoral scholarship in March, 2009. Nowadays she is Assistant Professor at the University of Montana Western, USA.

Dra. María Fernanda Salinas
Ph.D., Universidad de Chile, Chile (2008)
Dr. Salinas’ research involves the study of plant evolution and ecology from an integrative perspective, considering mainly modifications in attributes related with the evolution of plant substrate and life form, associated to two of the specific research foci developed by the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, namely Palaeoecology and Biogeography and Microevolutionary Processes, and the cross-cutting theme of Global Change Impacts. During her postdoctoral research, she is studying the evolution of the epiarenic habit in the mainly epiphytic genus Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae) in the coastal Atacama and Peruvian Desert using a molecular and anatomical approach. Fernanda began her two year postdoctoral fellowship in January 2009.

Dra. Ángela Sierra Almeida
Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Chile (2010).
Dr. Sierrra´s research centres on understanding the consequences of global climate change on the ecophysiology of high altitude native plants that grow in The Andes of central Chile, as part of the research focus of the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Global Change Impacts. Specifically, Angela is evaluating the effects that the increase in global temperature and the changes in rainfall rates would have on the photosynthetic performance of the plants and their skill to resist freezing temperatures. Angela began her six months postdoctoral scholarship in June, 2010.

Dra. Nicol Fuentes Parada
Doctorado en Recursos Naturales, Martin Luther University, Alemania
Su trabajo se centra en el estudio de especies introducidas en Chile. En particular la Dra. Fuentes realizará una actualización de la base de datos de las especies introducidas en el país, estudiará sus rasgos y su relación con las preferencias de hábitat y distribución a escala provincial. Adicionalmente efectuará un análisis del riesgo de invasión de especies introducidas en los Parques Nacionales de la zona central-sur de Chile.
Nicol comenzó su beca postdoctoral de dos años en abril del 2010.