I am a plant systematist, biogeographer and conservation biologist specialising in the diversity, evolution and conservation of Neotropical mountaintop floras. My research focuses on high-elevation and alpine ecosystems in South America, particularly the flora of isolated mountain summits, including Brazilian campos de altitude and campos rupestres, with broader comparative interests in Andean páramos and Amazonian tepuis. I have extensive field and taxonomic experience with South American mountaintop vegetation and its highly endemic and geographically restricted flora. I combine field inventories, biological collections, taxonomy, biodiversity databases, spatial modelling, phylogenetic approaches and conservation assessments to investigate species turnover, endemism, historical biogeography and extinction risk. I am highly experienced in R programming and use reproducible computational workflows for biodiversity data processing, spatial analyses, ecological modelling and large-scale floristic analyses. My current research programme investigates how geographic isolation, environmental heterogeneity and global change shape plant communities on mountain summits and their future trajectories. I also work with Area of Habitat, species distribution data, phylogenetic diversity and population-level genetic approaches for focal plant groups.

Biogeography
Botanics
Conservation Biology
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Landscape ecology
Phylogeography
Plant Sciences

I am developing a transnational project on the emergence and future trajectories of novel ecosystems in South American tropical mountains (open to expand to other regions). The project will compare Brazilian campos de altitude and campos rupestres, Andean páramos and Amazonian tepuis, to investigate how climate change, habitat transformation and other anthropogenic pressures are reshaping plant communities across naturally isolated mountain systems.
We aim to quantify changes in floristic composition, species turnover, phylogenetic diversity, endemism and range dynamics, and to evaluate whether these processes are generating novel species assemblages, biotic homogenisation and persistent ecological states. Historical, current and future biodiversity patterns will be integrated with spatial modelling, field inventories, biological collections and conservation assessments to identify alternative ecosystem trajectories and priority areas for conservation.
We are seeking partners with complementary expertise and ideas in remote sensing, long-term ecological monitoring, climate and land-use modelling, ecosystem functioning, functional ecology, socio-ecological systems, governance and stakeholder engagement.

mountain ecosystems, novel ecosystems, plant biodiversity, community reassembly, climate change, biogeography, biotic homogenisation, phylogenetic diversity, remote sensing, south america

Available for talk with potential BiodivFuture consortium partners and interested in participating in Biodiversa+ networking activities related to the call.