Faculty Profile

I am an ecologist that focuses on plant-insect interactions. I am particularly fascinated by the mutualism of pollination, and the diverse mechanisms adapted by plants and their pollinators. I studied Forestry in Peru and had the great opportunity to visit diverse tropical ecosystems, from the coastal lomas to rainforests. I specialized in ecology during my master’s and PhD studies, where I studied various adaptations of plants and insects for pollination in template forests of Japan and learned a lot about other plant-insect interactions.
In the last years, I worked as a lecturer for the Forest Management Department of the National University Agraria la Molina, teaching courses such as Dendrology, both in the classroom and in the field. During this time, I also worked on various research projects related to ecology and forestry. If I had to choose one of my publications to describe my research, I would choose my first one, which studied the pollination biology of Corylopsis gotana (Hamamelidaceae). Although we found that the main pollinators were beeflies (Bombylius major, Bombyliidae), the most interesting finding was that one aquatic insect species, Strophopteryx nohirae (Taeniopterygidae), visited the flowers and could pollinate them! I love these kinds of unexpected findings that we can observe on a micro-scale. Currently, I am adding macro-scale components in my plant-animal interactions studies. This year, a research project which I am leading that plans to study the ecological networks of pollination and parasitism of various Peruvian Ecosystems was funded by the Peruvian Government.

Professional Activities

• CORBIDI, Division of Vegetal Ecology

Research Interests

I am fascinated by the plant-insect interactions in their various levels. I mainly focus on the pollination mutualism, for which I have discovered and studied very interesting mechanisms used by plants and insects. I am also very interested in ecological networks.

Publications