Paula Morales is joining our lab as a visiting student from the National University in Colombia. Paula is pursuing her Master’s degree with Julian Aguirre Santoro on a project focused on determining priority conservation areas for epiphytic Orchids in highly diverse, but also largely disturbed, areas in the Antioquia province of Columbia.

Paula is a Colombian biologist with a background in tropical plant ecology and botany. Her research focuses primarily on the study of plant community dynamics and phenology; specifically, using vascular epiphytes. Her interests in functional traits and physiological methods as tools to better understand the effects of climate change on communities has led her to seek out a research internship with the PaqLab. She will be with us for 6 months over the spring/summer 2021 field season to assist with various urban projects – specifically those pertaining to thermal tolerance plasticity and water use dynamics by urban trees. Through her experiences in the PaqLab she hopes to further develop her research skills and learn about new topics which may be applied to her own future research.

We are very excited to have you join our lab this year. Welcome to the PaqLab family!