EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Plant Biology (Jul 2014).  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA

Thesis title: “Impacts of global warming and rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations on physiology, development and productivity of Midwestern crops”.

B.S. in Biological Sciences (Jul 2005). La Molina National Agrarian University (Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina), Lima, Peru

PROFESSIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

 Postdoctoral Research Associate  (Sep 2014 – to present). Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

• Led the study of carbon storage capacity of cassava and tobacco cultivars exposed to different CO2 concentrations in the field and the phenotyping of cassava roots. (supervisor: Dr. Donald Ort)

• Led projects about light interception efficiency in lines of soybean and transformed tobacco that could have better photosynthesis and yield potentials. (supervisor: Dr. Donald Ort)

• Worked on improving the evapotranspiration rate predictions of Miscanthus giganteus by using field data into the crop model Biocro (supervisor: Dr. Stephen Long)

• Well-versed in installing in the field and analyzing the data collected from quantum sensors, implementing enzymatic protocols for carbohydrate content determination in plant material, coding with the R programming language and working coordinately with a multidisciplinary group.

• Trained research assistants in laboratory and field protocols.

Graduate Research Assistant  (Jun 2009 – Jul 2014). Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

• Led the Temperature by Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE, http://www.igb.illinois.edu/soyface/welcome) experiment that evaluated increases in temperature and CO2 on soybean and maize.

• Experienced using gas exchange and stable isotope techniques, measuring plant water potential, performing RNA extraction protocols, using Arc GIS software, doing statistical analysis and working with a multidisciplinary group

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Languages:      

• English, Spanish, Portuguese

Proficiency in:        

• Microsoft Office, MAT Lab, scientific data analysis and graphing software SigmaPlot, statistical software SAS, geographic information system software ArcGIS, and R programing language.