New Faces

From Plant Press Vol. 15 no. 4

Julissa Rojas-Sandoval

Julissa Rojas-Sandoval started as a postdoctoral fellow in August 2012 and is currently working with Pedro Acevedo. Rojas-Sandoval got her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Biology at the University of Costa Rica, where she studied the reproductive phenology and the breeding system of the tropical tree Ceiba pentandra. In 2010, Rojas-Sandoval completed her Ph.D. in Ecology at The University of Puerto Rico, where she studied the population dynamics of the endangered Caribbean cactus Harrisia portoricensis. She recently completed a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation (CATEC), where she studied the vegetation community dynamics of Caribbean semiarid systems following experimental removals of exotic grasses. Her fellowship project at the Smithsonian focuses on the identification and evaluation of invasive plant species affecting plant communities in the West Indies. Rojas-Sandoval has conducted field work in Costa Rica, Mexico, and West Indies.