Research Interests

My research has covered topics ranging in scale from protein turnover, growth factor signaling, and natural products chemistry in the biomedical sciences to land-use change and traditional knowledge dynamics within human ecology and geography. I have a great interest in youth education and promotion of social entrepreneurship. Because of this, I have coordinated projects that combine intergenerational learning and research with indigenous community members. The connection between humans, ecology, and analytical lab studies makes for, what I consider, an exciting dynamic that leads to ideas and innovation for a hopeful future.

Contact

asemo001@ucr.edu

Publications

Please see my ResearchGate.net profile for an up-to-date list of publications at www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Semotiuk.

lorena.villanuevaalmanza@ucr.edu

Research Interests

I received a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences and a master’s in arid zone management at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. My thesis project described the population dynamics of Yucca valida in the Sonoran Desert using repeat photography, with the aim of establishing guidelines for the sustainable use of the species.

I worked for several months as a research assistant at the Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE). In 2014, I started my doctorate in Ecology at the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR), under the direction of Exequiel Ezcurra and Pedro P. Garcillán. My research involves radiocarbon-dating of cactus spines to determine the age of cacti, growth rates, and size at initiation of reproductive stage in the giant cardon cactus Pachycereus pringlei. I also will explore how these variables are related to the latitudinal gradient of rainfall in the Baja California Peninsula, and intend to use detailed spine dating in in very old individuals to reconstruct the life-history and morphological ontogeny of these giant desert plants.

Contact

e-mail: Mariana Delgado mdelgado@pg.cibnor.mx