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ROOSEVELT GARCÍA–VILLACORTA, Ph.D.
E-mail: roosevelt.garcia(at)gmail.com
Ecology, Conservation, and Environmental Studies in the Amazon region
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Biology, University of Edinburgh. 2015. Integrating molecular biogeography and community ecology to understand the evolution of habitat specialization in Amazonian forests. Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (UK).
MSc. Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), Missouri. 2005. Linking floristic patterns to edaphic gradients and remote sensing in Peruvian Amazonia. Saint Louis. USA.
Certificate in Tropical Conservation, UMSL and International Center for Tropical Ecology (ICTE), USA, July 2005.
Field courses: Ecology of Amazonian Ecosystems (2000, Peru), and Tropical Plant Systematics,(2001, Costa Rica), Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS).
BSc. in Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, National University of the Peruvian Amazon, Iquitos, Peru. Thesis: Composition and ecology of aquatic macrophytes in a lake of the Amazon River floodplain.
PUBLICATIONS (for updated publications click here)
Shi, Qinru, Jonathan M. Gomes-Selman, Roosevelt García-Villacorta, Suresh Andrew Sethi, Alexander S. Flecker, and Carla P. Gomes. 2018. “Efficiently Optimizing for Dendritic Connectivity on Tree-Structured Networks in a Multi-Objective Framework.” In COMPASS. https://doi.org/10.1145/3209811.3209878.
Gomes-Selman, J. M., Shi, Q., Xue, Y., García-Villacorta, R.; Flecker, A., Gomes, C. 2018. 2018. Boosting Efficiency for Computing the Pareto Frontier on Tree Structured Networks. In Integration of Constraint Programming, Artificial Intelligence, and Operations Research Pp. 263–279. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-93031-2_19.
Wu, X, J Gomes-Selman, Q Shi, Y Xue, Garcia-Villacorta, R., E Anderson, S Sethi, S Steinschneider, A Flecker, and C Gomes. 2018. Efficiently Approximating the Pareto Frontier: Hydropower Dam Placement in the Amazon Basin. Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Conference. https://www.cs.cornell.edu/~yexiang/publications/Xiaojian-Wu-et-al-aaai-2018-final.pdf.
Gomes, Vitor H. F., Stéphanie D. IJff, Niels Raes, Iêda Leão Amaral, Rafael P. Salomão, Luiz Souza Coelho, Francisca Dionízia Almeida Matos, et al. 2018. “Species Distribution Modelling: Contrasting Presence-Only Models with Plot Abundance Data.” Scientific Reports 8 (1):1003. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18927-1.
Draper, Frederick C., Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado, Katherine H. Roucoux, Ian T. Lawson, Nigel C. A. Pitman, Paul V. A. Fine, Oliver L. Phillips, et al. 2018. “Peatland Forests Are the Least Diverse Tree Communities Documented in Amazonia, but Contribute to High Regional Beta-Diversity.” Ecography, January, n/a-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.03126.
Pos, Edwin, Juan Ernesto Guevara Andino, Daniel Sabatier, Jean-François Molino, Nigel Pitman, Hugo Mogollón, David Neill, et al. 2017. “Estimating and Interpreting Migration of Amazonian Forests Using Spatially Implicit and Semi-Explicit Neutral Models.” Ecology and Evolution 7 (12):4254–65. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2930.
García-Villacorta, R., K. G. Dexter, and T. Pennington. 2016. Amazonian White-Sand Forests Show Strong Floristic Links with Surrounding Oligotrophic Habitats and the Guiana Shield. Biotropica 48: 47–57.
Esquivel-Muelbert, Adriane, Timothy R. Baker, Kyle G. Dexter, Simon L. Lewis, Hans ter Steege, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez, Abel Monteagudo Mendoza, et al. 2017. “Seasonal Drought Limits Tree Species across the Neotropics.” Ecography 40 (5):618–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.01904.
Levis, C., F. R. C. Costa, F. Bongers, M. Peña-Claros, C. R. Clement, A. B. Junqueira, E. G. Neves, et al. 2017. “Persistent Effects of Pre-Columbian Plant Domestication on Amazonian Forest Composition.” Science 355 (6328):925–31. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal0157.
Alvez-Valles, Carlos Mariano, Henrik Balslev, Fabrício Alvim Carvalho, Roosevelt Garcia-Villacorta, Cesar Grandez, and Luiz Menini Neto. 2017. “Endemism and Conservation of Amazon Palms.” Biodiversity and Conservation, November, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1463-0.
Bardon, Léa, Cynthia Sothers, Ghillean T. Prance, Pierre-Jean G. Malé, Zhenxiang Xi, Charles C. Davis, Jerome Murienne, et al. 2016. “Unraveling the Biogeographical History of Chrysobalanaceae from Plastid Genomes.” American Journal of Botany 103 (6):1089–1102. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1500463.
ter Steege et al. 2015. Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 Amazonian tree species. Science Advances. 1(10). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500936.
Heer, K., Kalko, E. K. V., Albretch L., García-Villacorta, R., Staeps, F. C., Herre, E. A. & C. W. Dick. 2015. Spatial Scales of Genetic Structure in Free-Standing and Strangler Figs (Ficus, Moraceae) Inhabiting Neotropical Forests. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0133581. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0133581.
Pos, E., Guevara, A. J. E., Sabatier, D., Molino, J.-F., Pitman, N., Mogollón, H., Neill, D. et al. 2014. Are all species necessary to reveal ecologically important patterns?. Ecology and evolution 4, 24: 4626-4636.
ter Steege, H., N. Pitman, D. Sabatier, C. Baraloto et al. 2013. Hyperdominance in the Amazonian tree flora. Science 342(6156):325-342. DOI: 10.1126/science.1243092.
García-Villacorta R., Isaú Huamantupa, Zaleth Cordero, Nigel Pitman, Corine Vriesendorp y Robin Foster. Flora y Vegetación/Flora and Vegetation. 2011. In: Perú: Yaguas-Cotuhé. Rapid Biological Inventories Report 23. The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.
García-Villacorta R. 2011. Delimitación de las cabeceras de cuencas hidrográficas del departamento de Loreto. Naturaleza y Cultura International (NCI). Loreto, Perú. 42 pp.
García-Villacorta R., Nállarett Dávila, Robin Foster, Isaú Huamantupa y Corine Vriesendorp. Flora y Vegetación/Flora and Vegetation. 2010. In: Perú: Maijuna. Rapid Biological Inventories Report 22. The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. pp. 176-182.
Fine P., García-Villacorta R., Mesones, I., & N. Pitman. 2009. A floristic study of the white-sand forests of Peru. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 97: 283-305.
García-Villacorta R. 2009. Integral estrategy for the protection of ecological and evolutionary processes for conserving the biodiversity in Loreto. PROCREL, Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Gobierno Regional de Loreto, Nature and Culture International. 92 pp.
Honorio, E. N., T. R. Baker, O. L. Phillips, N. C. A. Pitman, R. T. Pennington, R.Vásquez Martínez, A. Monteagudo, H. Mogollón, N. Dávila Cardozo, M. Ríos, R. García-Villacorta, E. Valderrama, M. Ahuite, I. Huamantupa, D. A. Neill, W. F. Laurance, H. E. M. Nascimento, S. Soares de Almeida, T. J. Killeen, L. Arroyo, P. Núñez, and L. Freitas Alvarado. 2009. Integrating regional and continental scale comparisons of tree composition in Amazonian terra firme forests. Biogeosciences Discussions 6:1421-1451.
García-Villacorta R. & Gagliardi G. 2009. Identifying ecological and evolutionary processes for the conservation of biodiversity in Loreto, Amazonia, Peru. Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon, Gobierno Regional Loreto, PROCREL, NCI. 133 pp. (in Spanish).
García-Villacorta, R. 2009. Diversity, floristic and structure of a highly endangered habitat: the seasonally dry forests of Tarapoto, San Martín, Perú. Revista Peruana de Biología 16(1): 81-92.
Pitman, N. C. A., Mogollón, H., Dávila, N., Ríos, M., García-Villacorta, R., Guevara, J., Ahuite, M., Aulestia, M., Cardenas, D., Cerón, C. E., Loizeau, P.-A., Neill, D. A., Núñez, P. V., Palacios, W. A., Phillips, O. L., Spichiger, R., Valderrama, E. & Vásquez-Martínez, R. 2008. Tree community change across 700 km of lowland Amazonian forest from the Andean foothills to Brazil. Biotropica 40: 525-535.
García-Villacorta, R. 2006. White-sand forests in upper Amazonia: conservation of its endemic avifauna and flora. Report for Conservation Leadership Programme. 59 pp.
Encarnación F., Beltran H. & García-Villacorta R. 2005. Floristic and Vegetative Aspects of the Upper and Middle Sections of the Pastaza River, Peru. In: A Rapid Biological Assessment Of The Aquatic Ecosystems Of The Pastaza River Basin, Ecuador and Peru. P.W. Willink (ed.). University of Chicago Press. Pp. 41-55.
García-Villacorta, R. & Hammel B. 2004. A noteworthy new species of Tovomita(Clusiaceae) from Amazonian White Sand Forests of Peru and Colombia. Brittonia 56 (2): 52-55.
Janovec J. & García-Villacorta R. 2004. Myristicaceae. In: The Encyclopedia of Forest Science Elsevier, J. Evans, J. A. Youngquist & J. Burley (eds.). Academic Press. Oxford, London.
Pitman, N., H. Beltrán, R. Foster, R. García-Villacorta, C. Vriesendorp, & M. Ahuite. 2003. Flora y vegetación/Flora and vegetation. In Pitman, N., D. K. Moskovits & C. Vriesendorp (eds.), Peru: Yavarí. Rapid Biological Inventories Report 11. The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. 282 pp.
García-Villacorta, R., M. Ahuite Reátegui & M. Olórtegui Zumaeta. 2003.Classification of the white sand forests of the Allpahuayo Mishana Reserve (ZRAM), Peruvian Amazonia. Folia Amazónica 14 (1-2): 11-28.
Ahuite R., García-Villacorta, R. & K. Ruokolainen. 2003. Preferencia de cuatro especies de plantas al drenaje y la altura en los bosques de arena blanca (varillales). Folia Amazonica 14 (1-2): 143-150.
Llerena N., R. García-Villacorta, A. Monteagudo, C. Rodríguez, H. Soplín, P. Tuesta & K. Ruokolainen. 2003. Melastomataceae composition and its relation to the forest basal area. In: Biological diversity of the Allpahuayo Mishana Reserve, Iquitos: Relationship between distribution, abundance and types of habitat. Rodríguez J. J. (editor). Folia Amazonica 14 (1-2): 11-116.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2019: WCS-Peru. La Hidrovía Amazónica y su Impacto en la Pesca.
2014: INFRAECO/DAR. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the Department of Loreto, Peruvian Amazon: Forests resources and ecosystem services assessment.
2010-2011: Nature and Culture International and Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon (IIAP),Technical Advisor in Conservation and Environmental Policies, Loreto, Peruvian Amazon.
2009: IIAP, Gobierno Regional de Loreto, Nature and Culture International, PROCREL, Consultant. Identificación de los principales procesos ecológicos y evolutivos para la conservación de la diversidad biológica en la Región Loreto, Peruvian Amazon.
2007-2008: Phylogeography studies in Amazonian Ficus and their pollinators (Moraceae).
2006: Nature and Culture International, Researcher, Conservation assessment of the seasonally dry forests of Tarapoto, northeastern Peru Northeastern Peru. Tarapoto-Juanjui.
2004-2005: Missouri Botanical Garden & University of Missouri, St. Louis, MSc. Graduate Student, Plant inventory of primary terra firme forests of Loreto and Madre de Dios, Northern and southern Peruvian Amazonia.
2003: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Field Botanist, Rapid Biological Inventory uplands forests in the Yavari basin, Peruvian Amazonia, Yavari river.
2002-2003: Center for Tropical Conservation & Duke University, Field Botanist, Tree plot inventories in the upland forests of the Napo river, Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon.
2002: University of Turku, Finland, Field botanist, Floristic studies in some flooded forests of the Nanay river, Peruvian Amazonia.
2002: Biological Diversity of the Peruvian Amazonia Project, BIODAMAZ, Consultant, Classification of the white sand forests of the Allpahuayo Mishana Reserve, Peruvian Amazonia.
2001: University of Leeds (UK), University of Edinburgh (Scottland), Max Plack Institute (Germany) and Missouri Botanical Garden (USA), Field botanist Botanical, Tree inventory in 10 permanent 1-ha plots for monitoring the dynamics of Amazonian forests (RAINFOR project), North of Peruvian Amazonia.
1999: Conservation International & Field Museum of Chicago, Field botanist, Aquatic Rapid Assessment Program (AquaRAP) of the Pastaza river basin, Pastaza river, Peruvian Amazonia.
Plant Field Guides
Foster R., Beltran H, Vriesendorp C., García-Villacorta R., and N. Pitman. 2004. Plantas llamativas del Yavarí, Loreto, Amazonia of Peru. Rapid Color Guides. Field Museum of Natural.
Foster R., Beltran H, Vriesendorp C., García-Villacorta R., and N. Pitman. 2004. Palmeras del Yavarí, Loreto, Amazonia of Peru. Rapid Color Guides. Field Museum of Natural History.
ACADEMIC HONORS, GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS
Principal Career Scholarship, 2011-2014, University of Edinburgh, PhD program in Biology.
Future Conservationist Award, research grant, BP Conservation Programme, Birdlife International, Wildlife Conservation Society, Conservation International, June 2006
Amazon Conservation Association, grant ACA, 2004.
Christensen Fellowship, International Center for Tropical Ecology, ICTE, 2004.
IDEAWILD, field equipment, 2004.
Alwyn H. Gentry Grant for Latin-American Botanists, Missouri Botanical Garden (MO), St. Louis, USA, 2003.
IDEAWILD, field equipment, 2003
Biological Diversity of the Peruvian Amazonia, research grant, 2002.
Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and Peruvian National Council of Science and Technology, Tropical Plant Systematics OTS 2001-18, July, 2000.
Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), Ecology of Amazonian Ecosystems OTS 2000-13, June, 2000
Fulbright Scholarship for MSc. studies in Missouri, USA (2003-2005)
Organization for Tropical Studies, OTS 2000 and 2001.
SKILLS
ArcGIS 10x for spatial analysis; ENVI for analysis of satellite images
Languages: English, Spanish (native), basic Portuguese
Extensive field-work and camping experience (Ecuador, Peru, Guyana).
Field and herbarium identification of Neotropical plants.
Methods in botanical inventories and field-data analysis.
Lab methods and analysis in molecular biology and phylogeography.
HTML, CSS, Javascript, Node.js for web development
Python language
R statistical program
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES and RELATED ORGANIZATIONS:
Amazon Tree Diversity Network, contributor
SALVIAS, Synthesis and Analysis of Local Vegetation Inventories Across Scales, contributor
Peruvian Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, PCB&C, member
IN THE MEDIA
A botanical sketch in progress: http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/29/a-botanical-sketch-in-progress/
South America’s white-sand forests: poorly known and under threat: Mongabay