Alma Trujillo Miranda

Alma completed undergraduate studies in Biology with honors, demonstrated a commitment to research in community ecology, and holds a Master of Science degree. Recognizing the importance of sustainable forest management, particularly influenced by childhood experiences in her home country, Mexico, where her parents were involved in timber harvesting, she has focused on forest ecology. Her master’s thesis concentrated on active versus passive restoration strategies in tropical montane cloud forests in Mexico. Continuing post-master’s collaborations with advisors yielded publications on forest plantations and restored sites. Additionally, Alma’s active involvement in an interdisciplinary group analyzing environmental conflicts showcases her commitment to addressing socioenvironmental challenges. Currently, Alma’s Ph.D. dissertation research is focused on understanding how abiotic and biotic factors drive palm regeneration and biodiversity, and how palm functional traits modulate species responses to different types of edge contrast, pasture, and cacao in a gradient of landscape forest loss across a human-modified tropical landscape in northwestern Ecuador. She is interested in revealing taxonomic and functional diversity patterns in palm communities, seedling recruitment and survival, and herbivory, as well as shedding light on the relative impact of different natural enemies on palm seedling establishment. Alma hopes her results will help inform biodiversity conservation and restoration strategies in these highly diverse and valuable landscapes.