Lucas Silva, Director

Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology  

Lucas Silva specializes in ecosystem sciences, with a focus on soil-plant-atmosphere interactions, ecological forest management, and conservation. His work advances sustainable agricultural development, promoting innovative strategies to address climate change impacts on people and ecosystems while enhancing carbon sequestration.

Lillian Aoki 

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Lillian Aoki specializes in ecosystem ecology with an emphasis on the physical and biological drivers of coastal ecosystem functions, especially in the context of anthropogenic forcing and global change.

Brendan Bohannan

Professor of Biology

Brendan Bohannan specializes in integrating microbial ecology into the broader field of ecology, with applications in soil restoration, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and carbon sequestration.

Ashley Cordes

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Data Science   

Ashley Cordes (Coquille/KōKwel) specializes in Indigenous science and technology studies, digital media, and environmental and place-based studies. 

Jake Searcy

Research Assistant Professor of Data Science

Jake Searcy specializes in computer and data science focusing on machine learning and artificial intelligence applications to shed light on complex problems such as land management decisions for climate change mitigation and adaptation.  

Henrique Pose Guerra

Technical Coordinator of the CARBS 2.0 Project 

Henrique Pose Guerra specializes in plant and soils, focusing on soil management, assessment of soil fertility and nutritional status, environmental sustainability, and crop science. His work approaches soil chemistry (mainly carbon), soil physics, and other aspects of organic matter.

Paulo C. Zangalli Jr.

Adjunct Professor of Climate and Policy at the Federal University of Bahia

Paulo Zangalli Jr. specializes in climate change impacts with critical political ecology, focusing on how Brazilian cities prepare for climate challenges and the creation of Future Climate Territories amidst climate capitalism critiques.

Beatriz Schwantes Marimon

Professor of Botany at UNEMAT

Beatriz Marimon specializes in tropical plant ecology with an emphasis on forest structure and dynamics, especially in the transition between Cerrado and Amazonia biomes, and the impacts of climate changes.

Rodrigo Studart Corrêa

 Lecturer at the University of Brasília 

Rodrigo Corrêa specializes in soil-plant interactions and conducts research and technical projects in applied ecology and ecological restoration.

José Mauro Sousa de Moura

Associate Professor at the Federal University of Western Pará

José Moura specializes in ecosystem ecology, methane, and aquatic ecosystems.

Alan Cunha

Professor at UNIFAP

Alan Cunha specializes in water resources and environmental systems. His research spans hydrology, renewable energy, and sanitation. Founded NHMET/IEPA, led IEPA, and coordinated Amapá’s sanitation projects and academic programs.

Christoph Gehring

Professor at the State University of Maranhão

Christoph Gehring specializes in ecosystem restoration and carbon sequestration.

Grace Alves           

Assistant Professor of Physical Geography at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) 

Grace Alves, a Physical Geography specialist, studies soil formation, geomorphology, and tropical landscape evolution. Her research focuses on soil genesis, disaster risks, and climate change impacts, enhancing understanding of landscape dynamics and promoting sustainability and resilience in humid and semiarid regions.

Matheus Figueiredo   

PhD Student in Geography at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) 

Matheus Figueiredo specializes in Environmental Studies, exploring how landform evolution, soil, and vegetation shape semiarid landscapes and affect soil carbon storage. His research supports conservation, sustainable land management, and climate change mitigation strategies, enhancing environmental resilience and sustainability.

Jilvana Ferreira Souza

PhD Student in Geography at the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) 

Jilvana Souza specializes in Environmental Studies, focusing on necropolitics, risks, and climate change impacts, particularly landslides and public policies in Salvador, Brazil. Her work explores socio-environmental conflicts and advances social cartography in traditional communities across tropical landscapes.

Peter Groenendijk

Assistant Professor at the Department of Plant Biology at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP)

Peter Groenendijk specializes in tropical forest ecology, focusing on environmental variability and climate change shaping tree growth, physiology, and anatomy. He applies tree-rings, isotopic, and wood-anatomical analyses to understand ecosystem responses and enhance the sustainability of forest management.

Gustavo Canale

 Professor of Tropical Ecology and Zoology 

Gustavo Canale specializes in conservation biology focusing on terrestrial mammal ecology, primate behaviour, ethnoecology, and human-wildlife coexistence in tropical terrestrial ecosystems. He co-works with indigenous people and vulnerable communities to protect socio-biodiversity.

Carolina Levis       

Professor of Ecology at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil) and a Brazil LAB affiliated scholar at Princeton University (USA)

Carolina Levis specializes in how Indigenous peoples have been shaping the Amazon and its biodiversity.

Renata Lima               

Master student in agricultural sciences

Renata Lima specializes in secondary forest ecology, plant-soil interactions, and microorganism ecology, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Christoph Gehring. Project focusing on understanding ecological and functional processes in natural and managed systems.

Ben Hur Marimon Junior

Professor at State University of Mato Grosso

Ben Hur Marimon Junior specializes in Amazon-Cerrado transitional vegetation, forest ecology, and biogeochemical cycles. His research focuses on climate change, carbon balance, and pyrogenic carbon in tropical forests. As a professor at UNEMAT, he actively collaborates with global networks such as RAINFOR and has an extensive track record of research and publications.

Augusto Cesar Franco

 Professor of Plant Physiology

Augusto Franco specializes in tropical plant ecophysiology. His research explores both functional and structural adaptations in plants, and the ecology and evolution of plant physiological processes with a focus on water relations, carbon metabolism, and resource use.

Tais Silva Sousa       

PhD candidate in Biodiversity and Biotechnology

Tais Sousa specializes in environmental sciences, with an emphasis on geoprocessing, conservation, and management of coastal biodiversity.

Raiane G. Beú

Postdoctoral Researcher

Raiane Beú specializes in plant ecology and ecophysiology, with a focus on plant hydraulics and the sensitivity/responses of tropical ecosystems to environmental changes.

Cristiane Silva Ferreira

 Associate Professor of Plant Physiology

Cristiane Ferreira specializes in plant ecophysiology, with a focus on stress tolerance, seed reserve composition, germination ecology, and seedling establishment in tropical ecosystems.

Manolo Trindade Quintilhan      

Post-doc researcher at the Department of Plant Biology at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP)

Manolo Quintilhan specializes in forest science, focusing on the growth and functional traits of tropical trees, edaphoclimatic gradients, and sustainable forest management. His work includes public policy, socio-environmental education, and data-driven strategies for climate change adaptation and carbon sequestration.

Roberto Ventura

Professor of Geochemistry

Roberto Ventura specializes in stable and radiogenic isotopes applied to natural processes. A geochemistry specialist, his research explores the Amazon's geological evolution, the Andes' role in erosion and material transfer, isotopic dynamics in ecosystems, and carbon capture initiatives. 

Fabiana Aparecida Rêgo Ciecoski

Ph.D. candidate in Ecology and Conservation

Fabiana Ciecoski specializes in Biodiversity and Biotechnology, she researches lichenized fungi taxonomy and currently focuses on the ecology of mycorrhizal fungi. She has been teaching in Mato Grosso’s state education network since 2007.

Priscila Amaral de Sá

PhD candidate in Ecology and Conservation at Mato Grosso State University

Priscila Amaral de Sá specializes in trees' ecophysiology, focusing on how drought impacts non-structural carbohydrates and leaf pigments in the Amazon forest.