Brazilian Team_Rainforest

About us

The Brazilian Team has been built as a collaborative and multidisciplinary group of biologists, citizen-scientists, communication professionals, ecologists, economists, engineers (agronomists, data, electrical, forestry, mechanical, robotics), environmental managers, informaticians, and mathematicians from Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, UK and USA.

The destruction of the tropical rainforests is expanding faster than humans have been able to study the biodiversity. The Brazilian Team devote synergic efforts for improving the knowledge about plant and animal diversity in tropical rainforests worldwide. We use innovative technologies and solutions, carefully designed developed, and tested by us, for rapid and accurate biodiversity assessment, especially from remote or difficult to access geographic areas.

Our technologies and strategies have been applied during the XPRIZE Rainforest, a five-year competition, to enhance our global understanding of the rainforest ecosystem. In August 2023, the Brazilian Team was announced as one of the 6 finalists of this competition, being the only team based in a tropical country and the only selected from the South Hemisphere.

Schematic Summary of Field Activities
Proposed for the XPRIZE Rainforest

Our strategies include use of drones, flying over the 100-hectare area to obtain high-definition images of plants; bioacoustic tools, to capture the sounds of the forest and identify birds, bats and amphibians; collection of hematophagous insects to identify also their animal hosts (e.g. mammals and birds); collection of water, litter and soil samples to identify fish, frogs, insects, plants and various organisms based on their DNA. Portable sequencers (“MiniONs”) will be used for quick DNA sequences in the field, and artificial intelligence tools to identify sounds and plant images.

Our strategies include:

Use of drones flying over a 100-hectares plot to obtain canopy high-definition images

Bioacoustic tools to capture the sounds of the forest, for identifying mainly insects, birds, bats and amphibians.

Collection of hematophagous insects for taxonomy identification and their animal hosts (e.g. mammals and birds)

Sampling collection of water, litter and soil to identify organisms (e.g. fish, frogs, insects, mammals, plants and others) based on their DNA traces present in the environment, and ground images collection.

Our solutions

Our main innovations rely on the use of existing tools (drones, bioacoustic devices, portable sequencers, mobile apps) and knowledge in an integrated manner, aiming to develop technologies and protocols for the rapid and replicable biodiversity assessment, based on scientific approaches comparable among different environments.

Our approaches do not require human presence inside the study area. They are based on the mobilization of previously collected vast corpus of data coming from citizen science programmes, university databases, and the knowledge of indigenous populations. Field data collection is always done using devices such as drones and terrestrial robots.

The Brazilian Team focuses on Plants (Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Ferns, Lycophytes, and Bryophytes) and Animals (Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fish, and Arthropods). Our techniques cover three frontlines:

Taxonomic Accuracy and Validation

We aim at generating a final species list and set of occurrences in the target study area, including the presence of exotic or invasive and threatened species, names considered doubtful due to their occurrence, etc.

Visible biodiversity

We focus on field activities using robotic samplers for arthropods and leaf litter collections, and drones for plant identification through artificial intelligence (supervised and unsupervised deep learning models), and remote sensing.

“Invisible” biodiversity

We use DNA metabarcoding from environmental samples (e.g. water, soil, leaf litter, and bulk of insects) and portable sequencers (“MiniONs”) for quick DNA sequencing in the field, and bioacoustic analyses (specially for birds, bats, insects and frogs).

Data collection using innovative technologies:

Cause minimal or no harm to the living beings and the surrounding ecosystem

Allow for a rapid and accurate representation of the multiple habitats, their composition, and structure, and

Allow biodiversity assessments in remote or human inaccessible areas.

Our technology

Unmanned Flying Laboratory

This system consists of obtaining data through drones, which fly over and collect information about tree canopies, branches, leafs, fruits flowers, nests, and eggs, allowing their identification through artificial intelligence – as well as spatially locating and quantifying them. Our solution is a novel combined hardware system and custom algorithm workflow, which collects and then, in post-processing, generates unique data fusion product deliverables incorporating several remote sensors.

DNA barcoding and metabarcoding

Allow taxa identification using short fragments of DNA, while comparing it to a library of reference sequences. Although these approaches are more efficient for animals, it is currently being improved for plants, with satisfactory results using larger stretches of DNA and some prior knowledge of the local flora. DNA extraction and sequencing techniques are performed using backpack laboratories, including the “MinION” sequencer (measuring just a few centimeters and connecting to a computer through a USB port). We work with multiple MinIONs simultaneously for providing robust data in the field

Brazilian Team Semifinal Summary – Support from Total Energies

Brazilian Team solutions developed for the XPRIZE Rainforest

Brazilian Team Semifinal Submission for the XPRIZE Rainforest

Our team

The Brazilian Team is structured on two pillars: the scientific and the technological crew, including experts and recognized professionals, with a large experience in ecosystem restoration and scientific computational platform projects, and early career fellows (future leaders in tropical biodiversity research) and the local community citizen-scientists.

Coordinator: Vinicius Castro Souza. Researcher and professor at the Universidade de São Paulo (ESALQ-USP).

Vice-coordinator: Rafaela Campostrini Forzza. Researcher at Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (JBRJ).

Meet our team members

Robotics

Marco H. Terra

terra@sc.usp.br

https://bv.fapesp.br/pt/pesquisador/6424/marco-henrique-terra/

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5416767068643649

Marco H. Terra is the coordinator of the robotics group within the Brazilian Team. He received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos, Brazil, in 1995. He is currently a Full Professor of Electrical Engineering with USP. He has authored over 270 conference and journal papers. He has coauthored the book Robust Control of Robots: Fault-Tolerant Approaches (Springer). He is an ad hoc Referee for the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. His research interests include filtering and control theories, fault detection and isolation problems, and robotics. He has experience in the area of Electrical Engineering, system control, mainly focusing on the following topics: robust control, robust filtering, and robotics. Prof. Terra was the Coordinator of the Robotics Committee and Brazilian Institute of Science and Technology for Cooperative Autonomous Systems Applied to Security and Environment. He is the President of the Brazilian Automation Society. He has reviewed papers for over 30 journals and to the Mathematical Reviews of the American Mathematical Society.

Gilvanio Sousa

gilvanio.sousa@usp.br

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilvanio-sousa-8b582a46

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5012368283072757

Gilvanio Sousa is a Mechatronic Engineer who has worked for 10 years as an automation and design engineer in industrial facilities. In 2019, he obtained his MBA in industrial automation from the Polytechnic School at the University of São Paulo. He is currently working towards an M.S. degree at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems (LASI) in the São Carlos School of Engineering at the University of São Paulo. He is interested in the following research areas: Artificial Intelligence, Robots Control, Ground Robots, Legged Robots, Model Predictive Control (MPC), and Optimal Control.

Kenny Caldas

kennycaldas@usp.br

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenny-caldas-5b765990/

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1206484484553020

Kenny Caldas is a researcher specializing in autonomous mobile robots. He obtained his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of São Paulo in 2018 and is currently working towards a Ph.D. at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems. During this time, he actively took part in several robotics competitions as a member of the Flying U2 team, achieving victory in the 2021 SARC – BARINet Aerospace Competition by CISB and SAAB, as well as the 2021 Petrobras’ Innovation Challenge within the Open Flying Robot Trial League at RoboCup. Kenny’s research is centered around visual-inertial odometry, 3D reconstruction, and autonomous UAV navigation.

Edson Hernandes Francelino

edson.hernandes@usp.br

https://www.linkedin.com/in/edson-hernandes-francelino-5a3b1736/

http://lattes.cnpq.br/9127744575847330

Obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Central Paulista University – UNICEP. Has a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of São Carlos – UFSCar, specializing in Digital Signal Processing, focusing on determining absolute and articulatory angles in lower limb exoskeletons. Currently a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering at the University of São Paulo – USP, specializing in Dynamic Systems, extending the scope of the master’s research to develop solutions for monitoring and rehabilitating daily activities for post-stroke patients. Collaborates with the UFSCar Physiotherapy Department, focusing on identifying and quantifying daily activities in post-stroke patients to enhance motor rehabilitation. Has 22 years of professional experience in maintaining electronic audio and video equipment, as well as repairing switch-mode power supplies and computers.

Raphael Montanari

rmontanari@usp.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raphael-Montanari

http://lattes.cnpq.br/8847257856296197

Researcher at USP Center for Robotics (CROB/USP). He has experience in Computer Science, focusing on Artificial Intelligence, acting on the following subjects: robotics, artificial intelligence, simulation and artificial neural networks. He currently works as a laboratory specialist at the São Carlos Robotics Center. For the XPRIZE Rainforest competition, he is interested on the development of the mobile robots and robots communication.

Paulo Galvão

paulogalvao@usp.br

Paulo Galvao is a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering at the University of São Paulo. Paulo received a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos, Brazil in 2021 and a bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics Engineering at Tiradentes University Center, Maceió, Brazil, 2018. He is currently developing research in the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems focused on applying perception algorithms and control systems to improve the performance of autonomous aerial and ground vehicles operating in hostile environments. He worked in the FlyingU2 control team, where he developed innovative solutions presented in three different competitions, winning first place in the 1st SARC-BARINet Aerospace Collaborative UAVs Competition and the Petrobras Innovation Challenge. He is currently Part of the Brazilian team in the Xprize Rainforest competition, aiming to promote innovative technologies for the rapid, accurate, and low-cost characterization of biodiversity in rainforests. His research interests include Control Systems, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Robotics Perception, Artificial Intelligence, and Robot Motion Planning.

Roberto S. Inoue

rsinoue@ufscar.br

https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberto-inoue-235b4618/

http://lattes.cnpq.br/6221209121565990

https://www.laris.ufscar.br/

Roberto Inoue (0000-0003-2813-9330) - ORCID

Roberto S. Inoue is an Associate Professor at the Federal University of São Carlos in the Computer Science Department. Advisor in the Graduate Program in Computer Science (PPGCC-UFSCar) and the Graduate Program in Electrical Engineering (PPGEE-UFSCar). His research interests include Engineering field, focusing mainly on the following topics: robust filtering, Kalman filter, GPS-aided inertial navigation system, position, attitude and orientation reference system, inertial measurement unit, robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles, wheeled mobile robots, robust control, adaptive control, fuzzy systems, and neural networks. Inoue is the coordinator of the Robótica e Sistema group at UFSCar and of the Laboratory of Autonomous Robots and Intelligent Systems (LARIS).

Robson Rogério Dutra Pereira

robson.pereira@ifmt.edu.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robson-Pereira-5

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pereirarobson

http://lattes.cnpq.br/4037337388620998

https://geotec.ifmt.edu.br/

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3643-7031

Robson Rogério Dutra Pereira is a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). Robson received a Master of Science’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Engineering School of São Carlos – University of São Paulo (EESC-USP, 2009), and Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering at the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT, 2005). Since 2015, he is a professor in the Bachelor’s Degree in Control and Automation Engineering, at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation (DEEA), at the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso (IFMT) Cuiabá campus, Robson taught the following courses: Performance Evaluation of Systems (60 hours), Discrete Control Systems (90 hours), Industrial Instrumentation (90 hours), and Continuous Control Systems (90 hours). I also served as the coordinator of this program from May 2017 to March 2019. Currently, I am pursuing a Ph.D. Degree at the UFSCar in Computer Science, focusing on topics related to Digital Image Processing, Geoprocessing, Remote Sensing, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Mobile Robots, Robotics, and UAVs Motion Planning. He collaborated with the FlyingU2 control team, where he with the IFMT workgroup GEOTEC provided an aerial image dataset of Pantanal Mato-Grossense, winning first place in the 1st SARC-BARINet Aerospace Collaborative UAVs Competition (2021). He also worked in the UFSCar-LARIS team, where he contributed to the development of a mobile differential robot with 2D SLAM mapping, Deep Learning object localization and autonomous navigation, at the ROBOVISOR Tech Challenge AGV 1.0 (2022).

Igor Araujo Dias

igoraraujodias@gmail.com

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5202609356103130

Igor holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the Faculdade Independente do Nordeste (2015) and a master’s degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of São Carlos (2019). He has experience in Robotics, Mechatronics, and Automation, with emphasis on Computer Engineering.

Roseli Aparecida Francelin Romero

rafrance@icmc.usp.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/0241862487783754

Currently, she is a Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science, ICMC, University of São Paulo, working in both undergraduate and graduate programs. She is a member of the Bioinspired Computing group at ICMC-USP and coordinates the LAR – Robotics Learning Laboratory at ICMC-USP. From 2016 to 2018, she served as Head of the SCC Department/ICMC-USP and coordinator of the Robotics Center of USP in São Carlos-SP (CRob-SC/USP). She also served as vice-coordinator of the Robotics Center of USP in São Carlos-SP (CRob-SC/USP) from 2011 to 2015 and vice-head of the SCC Department/ICMC/USP from 2014 to 2016. She is a Senior Member of the INNS – International Neural Networks Society and a member of the SBC – Brazilian Computing Society and the SBA – Brazilian Society of Automation. She has served as a reviewer for various journals including IEEE Trans. on Neural Networks and Learning Systems and Neurocomputing. She is the mentor of the Warthog Robotics group, two-time champion of the Brazilian Robotics Competition (CBR), and also the local coordinator of the Brazilian Robotics Olympiad Regional in São Carlos-SP. She received the Jabuti Award 2015 for second place in the category: Engineering, Technologies, and Informatics. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the IEEE South RAS Chapter. Her areas of interest include artificial neural networks, fuzzy systems, computer vision, machine learning, and robotics.

Guilherme Nardari

guinardari@usp.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1508338086330808

Guilherme holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from the Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences (ICMC-USP) with a focus on intelligent systems. He has worked on the development of natural language processing and image processing systems. He holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate Program in Computer Science and Computational Mathematics at ICMC-USP. Among his research interests are topics related to machine learning, computer vision, and robotics.

Paulo Morais

paulo.morais@ifmt.edu.br

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulo-morais-6a1aab1b1/

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1490251819059529

PhD candidate in Computer Science at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), with an emphasis on Autonomous Mobile Robots and Robot Fleet Management. Master’s degree in Environmental Physics from the Graduate Program in Environmental Physics at the Federal University of Mato Grosso. Graduated in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT). Professor since 2016 at the Federal Institute of Mato Grosso (IFMT), developing embedded systems projects related to precision agriculture integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT), using LoRa transmission technology.

Bioacoustics

Simone Dena

sdena@unicamp.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Simone-Dena

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1490255105835378

Coordinator of the Bioacoustics group of the Brazilian Team. I’m a biologist and audiovisual collections manager at the Museu de Diversidade Biológica (Museum of Biological Diversity) of Unicamp (University of Campinas). I have experience in the areas of audiovisual collections, bioacoustics, biodiversity acoustic monitoring, animal communication, taxonomy, population, and community ecology. I also work on the development and implementation of educational and university outreach actions.

Luís Felipe Toledo

toledosapo@gmail.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luis-Felipe-Toledo

http://lattes.cnpq.br/7548286300603675

Assistant coordinator of the Bioacoustics group of the Brazilian Team. I’m a zoologist with a focus on Herpetology, working in natural history, taxonomy, ecology, communication, behavior, and conservation of amphibians. Currently, I’m a Full Professor of Vertebrates at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), curator of vertebrates at the Museu de Diversidade Biológica (MDBio), coordinator and curator of the Fonoteca Neotropical Jacques Vielliard, and a professor in the Graduate Programs in Ecology and Animal Biology at Unicamp.

Diego Llusia

diego_llusia@yahoo.es

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Diego-Llusia

http://lattes.cnpq.br/6662772490322370

Researcher at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. I was awarded the world-renowned Marie Curie Post-doctoral Fellowship (MCSA, H2020), and my research is focused on the role of environmental factors in the evolution of animal acoustic communication and the impacts of global change on species’ communicative strategies. I hold a PhD in Ecology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), and I was granted the Extraordinary Doctoral Prize 2013-2014. Additionally, I am a collaborating professor at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG, Brazil), where I supervise and lecture students and coordinate research projects.

Juan Sebastián Ulloa Chacón

julloa@humboldt.org.co

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Juan-Ulloa-7

Researcher at Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. As a scientist and engineer, I am driven by the pursuit of creating smart tools to preserve biodiversity. My research focuses on combining acoustic monitoring and artificial intelligence to assess and predict the impact of global change on tropical ecosystems. With a PhD in Ecology from the University Paris-Saclay, France, my strong background in signal processing and pattern recognition has equipped me with the skills to adapt these technologies for biodiversity monitoring.

Sylvain Haupert

sylvain.haupert@mnhn.fr

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sylvain-Haupert

Research Engineer in Ecoacoustics at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). I’m a data scientist in ecoacoustics, specially developing frameworks in R and Python for analyzing large audio dataset recorded in terrestrial environment. I have a PhD in Acoustics and Biomedical Engineer (M.S). Engineer at Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. Member of the Ecoacoustics Research project (ear.cnrs.fr) dedicated to biodiversity monitoring by acoustics.

Thiago Gouvea

thiago.gouvea@dfki.de

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thiago-Gouvea

Researcher and professor at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). I work on the development of interactive machine learning solutions for acoustic monitoring of wild animals and the creation of a software tool that can be used for annotating acoustic data.

Bengt Lüers

bengt.lueers@dfki.de

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bengt-Lueers

I am a researcher at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), focusing on machine learning for classification and representation learning of audio data. For the XPRIZE Rainforest competition, I am developing an interactive tool for passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) of wild animals. My tool is designed to leverage automatically generated labels by large pre-trained artificial neural networks to streamline the manual annotation process of bioacoustic data.

Hannes Berthold Kath

hannes_berthold.kath@dfki.de

Researcher at German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). I work on the development of interactive machine learning solutions for acoustic monitoring of wild animals and the creation of a software tool that can be used for annotating acoustic data.

Maria João Ramos Pereira

maria.joao@ufrgs.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria_Joao_Ramos_Pereira

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5735371339563196

Assistant Professor at the Zoology Department, UFRGS. In my research I integrate studies in population and community ecology of mammals and birds, to understand ecological and evolutionary patterns of vertebrate diversity. I am also interested in methodological aspects of non-invasive monitoring methods, particularly acoustic monitoring, and camera-traps. My studies are applied in conservation and management of populations and ecosystems, and human dimensions of wildlife, under a logic of sustainability. https://www.ufrgs.br/bimalab

Moise Leance Sagbohan

smoiseleance@gmail.com

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1894105268917102

Research collaborator at the Mathematical-Statistical Modeling Laboratory of UFPA (Federal University of Para). In my research, I use machine learning techniques to predict habitat changes based on acoustic indices and develop automated algorithms to detect bird-specific signals to investigate anthropogenic impacts on their vocal communication. Apart from bioacoustics and ecoacoustics, I am also interested in applied statistics, data science, climate change and its ecological consequences.

Remote Sensing

Paulo Guilherme Molin

pgmolin@ufscar.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paulo-Molin

https://lattes.cnpq.br/1529819650942373

Molin is coordinator of the Remote Sensing subgroup within the Brazilian Team. He holds a faculty position at UFSCar-CCN and is a researcher in the field of environmental management, specializing in forest restoration planning and monitoring. He earned his doctoral degree in Forest Resources from ESALQ-USP, a master’s degree in Geospatial Technologies from the Erasmus Mundus program, jointly offered by the University of Muenster (Germany), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), and Universidade Jaume I (Spain). He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management from ESALQ-USP. He has completed two postdoctoral fellowships at USP. His research primarily centers around the application of geotechnologies (remote sensing, modeling, GIS, drones, and GNSS) as tools for territorial and natural resource management.

Danilo R. A. de Almeida

daniloflorestas@gmail.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Danilo-Almeida

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5642678232059551

Danilo coordinates the Remote Sensing subgroup within the Brazilian Team. He is a specialized researcher in ecology, forest management, and restoration. His academic background comprises a doctoral degree in Forest Resources from ESALQ-USP in collaboration with Michigan State University, a master’s degree in Tropical Forest Sciences from INPA, and a bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering from UFV. He has completed postdoctoral research at the University of São Paulo, University of Florida, and Bangor University. Having authored over 60 scientific articles, his primary research focuses on forest monitoring through remote sensing. In addition to his academic engagement, Danilo holds the position of Director of REDD+ Carbon Projects at BrCarbon and is also a managing partner at Bioflore, a company specializing in innovative forest monitoring technologies.

Herbert Lincon Rodrigues Alves dos Santos

hlincon.santos@outlook.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbertlincon/

Herbert Lincon is an environmental technologist, specialist in geoprocessing and postgraduating in project management. With operations in the second and third sectors of the economy, with geoprocessing and data analysis activities, he joins the team as co-coordinator to unify the efforts of all team members.

Carlos Alberto Silva

c.silva@ufl.edu

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carlos-Silva-109

https://carlos-alberto-silva.github.io/silvalab/home.html

Carlos Alberto Silva is an Assistant Professor of Quantitative Forest Science in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences (SFFGS) at the University of Florida (UF) where he directs the Forest Biometrics and Remote Sensing Lab (Silva Lab). He is interested in understanding how forest ecosystems changes over time due to natural and anthropogenic disturbances and their impact on the carbon cycle. Previously, he has worked as a research scientist at the USDA Forest Service, University of Maryland, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. His core research consists of developing statistical frameworks and open-source tools, such as rGEDI, TreeTop, rLiDAR, ForestGapR, and leafR for remote sensing data processing and forest resources monitoring. He is particularly interested in using lidar (light detection and ranging) data, from airborne (ALS), terrestrial (TLS), and satellite platforms (e.g. GEDI, ICESat-2), combined with multi- and hyperspectral satellite data and advanced statistical methods to address ecological questions related to forest ecosystem structure, function, and composition dynamics at a variety of spatial scales. Dr. Silva is member of both NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) and Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat-2) Science Teams.

Eben North Broadbent

eben@ufl.edu

www.speclab.org

Eben N. Broadbent is an assistant professor of forest ecology and geomatics in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences at the University of Florida where he co-directs the Spatial Ecology and Conservation Lab and the GatorEye Unmanned Flying Laboratory Project with Dr. Almeyda Zambrano (Prof. of tropical conservation and development, TRSM, UFL) and is an affiliated researcher with the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. Over the last decades he has conducted research focusing on the tropics, including in the Brazilian, Bolivian, and Peruvian Amazon, Papua Indonesia, Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Mexico, and also including work in California and in his childhood forests of New England. He has worked as a research ecologist in the Department of Global Ecology of the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University, at the Instituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and at Hudsonia Ltd. at Bard College. He is involved in projects linking social sciences with forest ecology, conservation biology and remote sensing, including current projects investigating feedbacks between soil fertility and land use decision making in the context of rapid infrastructure development in the Amazon and linking land use change with water quality and biodiversity in Costa Rica.

Gabriel Gualda

g.gualda@usp.br

www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-gualda

Environmental manager at ESALQ/USP. Has worked in the following areas: Geoprocessing applied to basin analysis watersheds and Forest Restoration; Water quality; stream ecology

Giulio Brossi Santoro

gbsantoro@usp.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Giulio-Brossi-Santoro

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5820862122348009

Giulio is an environmental engineer graduated from UFSCar and a specialist in forest restoration from the same institution. He completed his master’s degree in environmental sciences at ESALQ/USP and is currently working with geotechnologies applied to natural ecosystems as a phD student in the forest resources program at the same institution. He has extensive experience working with environmental modeling, remote sensing, GIS, GNSS and drones.

José Matheus Segre Moneva Viveiros

jm.geotec@gmail.com

http://lattes.cnpq.br/4791611385373387

José Matheus is a member of the Remote Sensing subgroup of the Brazilian team. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from UFSCar-CCN and is currently a Master’s student in Forest Resources at ESALQ-USP. During his career, he has been actively involved in research, development and innovation projects that utilize Remotely Piloted Aircraft for Sustainable Management and Monitoring of Forest Restoration. At the moment, José holds the position of Jr. Research and Development Analyst at Bioflore, a company specialized in creating innovative technologies for forest monitoring. At Bioflore, he research focus on biodiversity, employing Remote Sensing techniques to monitor and detect tree species.

Laura Barbosa Vedovato

lauravedovato2@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauravedovato/

http://lattes.cnpq.br/6369586960877583

Laura is an ecologist with a master´s degree in Remote Sensing from INPE and a PhD in Geography from the University of Exeter. Currently is a PosDoc Researcher working in carbon modelling. She has expertise in tropical forest dynamics, forest fragmentation, fires and forest restoration.

Leo Eiti Haneda

hanedaleo@ufl.edu

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leo-Haneda-2

Leo is a Forest Engineer with a Master’s degree in Forest Resources at the University of São Paulo. Currently, he is a PhD candidate at the Forest Resources and Conservation Program at University of Florida. His work is focused on the use of remote sensing and GIS technologies applied on forest ecology and management. At the Brazilian Team, he supports the remote sensing team with LiDAR data processing, analyses and final products.

Leonardo Gonçalves Belli

leonardobelli1234@usp.br

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardo-goncalves-belli/

Studying forestry engineer in ESALQ/USP. He carried out activities in the field of forest restoration, leading and applying projects carried out within the environmental adaptation group. Currently, his focus is on specializing in monitoring forest diversity using remote sensing technologies.

Matheus Pinheiro Ferreira

pferreira.matheus@gmail.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matheus-Ferreira-4

http://lattes.cnpq.br/9686528152912455

Matheus has over ten years of experience using remote sensing data to monitor tropical ecosystems, especially forests. He has led forest monitoring projects in both the public and private sectors, focusing on biodiversity and carbon storage assessments. His current research focuses on using remote sensing and artificial intelligence methods to map essential characteristics of tropical forests, such as tree species diversity and biomass. He has experience in imaging spectroscopy and LiDAR. Matheus works as a Professor of Forest Inventory and Data Science in the Department of Forest Science at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ) from the University of São Paulo (USP)

Matheus Santos Fuza

fuza.math@gmail.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matheus-Fuza

http://lattes.cnpq.br/4634158300958442

Forestry Engineer and Master’s student in the Graduate Program in Forest Resources at ESALQ/USP. Has worked in the following areas: Forest Restoration; Forest Monitoring; Geoprocessing Analyst and BigData of the thematic project NewFor – Lastrop; Developer of Deep Learning architectures applied to forest ecosystems.

Silvio Henrique Menezes Gomes

silvio@brcarbon.com.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Silvio-Gomes

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5473523313766700

Silvio is a forest engineer with a doctoral degree in fores resources and applied modeling from the University of São Paulo. He has experience in forest biometrics, and advanced modeling applied to develop analytic methodologies for carbon stock quality protocols in tropical forests, ground-based forest inventory data, remote sensing, and drone-LiDAR systems.

Vinicius Moura Costa

vmcosta@usp.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1518063371712621

Vinicius is an environmental engineer and is currently working with environmental modelling and landscape dinamics as a master’s student at ESALQ/USP Forest Resources program. He has extensive experience working with modeling, remote sensing, GIS, GNSS and drones.

Gabriel Prata

gprata@ufl.edu

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gabriel-Prata-2/research

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5823246613031293

Gabriel Prata, PhD, is a post-doctoral associate and Research Scientist in the SPEC Lab at the University of Florida (UF). He is a forest engineer who earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees, all specializing in Forestry, from the University of Sao Paulo, ESALQ in Brazil. His focus lies in remote sensing and its application in forest ecology, specifically with various sources of LiDAR data and its integration with other sensors such as radar, hyperspectral, multispectral, and visual data. Currently at UF, his primary project centers on assessing forest damages and recovery after Hurricane Michael in the northern region of Florida State in 2018, in collaboration with the US Forest Service and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU). Additionally, Gabriel is the director/founder of Prata Florestal, a forestry consultancy company in Brazil, specialized in silviculture and forest insurance.

Vlamir José Rocha

vlamir@ufscar.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/8044368595391973

I am a zoologist specializing in Mastozoology. My interests include studying the natural history, ecology, behavior, conservation, and management of neotropical mammals using various direct and indirect techniques. I currently hold the position of Associate Professor of Zoology at the Federal University of São Carlos, Araras campus (UFSCar), and I am a professor in the Postgraduate Program in Fauna Conservation. Additionally, I serve as the coordinator of the Fauna Laboratory. I am enthusiastic about applying new technologies to biodiversity studies.

Angélica F. Resende

gel.florestal@gmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gelresende/

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Angelica_Resende2

http://www.lattes.cnpq.br/9650063863562261

https://scholar.google.com.br/citations?user=yKNCdyIAAAAJ&hl=en

Researcher at the University of São Paulo (FAPESP Postdoctoral Fellow). She was a Visiting Lecturer at the same university. She holds a postdoctoral degree from the Synergize-RAS project (SinBiose-CNPq) and from the University of Stirling (United Kingdom). Angélica has a PhD in Botany from the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), with a sandwich period (PDSE, CAPES) at the University of Arkansas (USA) and a research stay at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (Jena, Germany) and UNESP (Rio Claro, Brazil). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering from the Federal University of Viçosa and a Master’s degree in Tropical Forest Science from INPA. Associate Editor for the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (IF 2021: 10.3). Interests: tropical forest ecology, climate change, extreme climate events, forest restoration, secondary forests, forest degradation, biodiversity, remote sensing applied to vegetation, dendrochronology, Atlantic Forest, Amazon, among others.

Catherine Torres de Almeida

cathe.torres@gmail.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catherine-Almeida

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5534145837431294

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wyes3WkAAAAJ&hl=pt-BR

Catherine is a Forestry Engineer graduated from UFRRJ (Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro) with an exchange period at UdL (University of Lleida, Spain), and a Biologist graduated from UERJ (State University of Rio de Janeiro). She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental and Forest Sciences (UFRRJ) and a Ph.D. in Remote Sensing from INPE (National Institute for Space Research). Winner of the 2020 CAPES/Natura Campus Excellence in Research Award. Currently an Assistant Professor at UNESP-Registro, where she teaches courses on Geoprocessing, Remote Sensing, Scientific Methodology, Informatics, and Topography. She is also affiliated with the Graduate Program in Coastal Environments Biodiversity (CLP Campus, São Vicente/SP) and leads the “GEOSER – Geoprocessing and Remote Sensing” research group. Her main research interests include tropical ecosystem dynamics, climate change, and the potential of remote sensing data for environmental analysis.

DNA

Carla Martins Lopes

cmlopes82@hotmail.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carla-Lopes-29

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5824206184428020

Carla is the coordinator of the DNA subgroup within the Brazilian Team. She is a biologist holding both master’s and PhD degrees in Genetics and Molecular Biology. Her research is focused on employing molecular tools to better understand ecological and evolutionary factors influencing biodiversity, especially trophic relationships, biotic and abiotic interactions, and conservation of biodiversity in tropical forests.

Alessia Guerrieri

Alessia possesses a rich multidisciplinary background in Environmental Sciences and Technology, culminating in a Ph.D. thesis focused on the evolution of ecosystems post-glacier retreat. She applies her expertise in molecular ecology, bioinformatics, and statistical analyses to various biodiversity conservation and management projects. Additionally, she contributes to the advancement of the eDNA metabarcoding tool through methodological enhancements, particularly in refining field sampling and laboratory protocols.

Cássio Augusto Patrocínio Toledo

cassioxtoledo@gmail.com

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cassio-Toledo-2

http://lattes.cnpq.br/3878418515527044

Bachelor in Biology (ESALQ/USP) with master degree and Ph.D. in Botany (Unicamp). Spent 12 months as intern at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and 6 months at the Royal Botanica Gardens Kew as part of the Ph.D. program. Currently conducting a post-doctoral project focusing on forest inventories and DNA barcoding (ESALQ/USP). Over the last 12 years developing researches with emphasis on Plant Taxonomy, Phylogenetics, Floristics, Floral Ontogeny and DNA barcoding. The bibliography includes about 20 scientific papers, 2 books, 2 chapter books, along with online publications and other material.

Daniel Carmo

Daniel Carmo is an entomologist with Phd by the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA). Currently working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto, his lines of research include: Insect taxonomy and systematics, Integrative Taxonomy and Paleoentomology.

Eric Coissac

eric.coissac@metabarcoding.org

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_Wrq4UAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Éric Coissac holds academic degrees from the University Pierre et Marie Curies (Paris-France), including a PhD and HDR. He is an associate professor at the University of Grenoble-Alpes and is affiliated with the Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine. He is a geneticist and bioinformatician. He has extensive experience in genomics and environmental DNA studies. He developed and coined the term DNA metabarcoding in collaboration with Pierre Taberlet. He has co-authored 133 publications with more than 20,000 citations and is recognized as a highly cited researcher. He is a member of the Brazilian Team – DNA.

Frédéric Boyer

frederic.boyer@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2lxQT9UAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Frédéric is primarily interested in developing and applying bioinformatics tools for the analysis of high–throughput data. During his PhD and post-docs, he worked in the area of metabolic pathways analysis and bacterial comparative genomics. He was then hired as a bioinformatics engineer by the french National Institute for Agricultural Research where he worked for two years. In 2011, he joined the Alpine Ecology lab in Grenoble (France) as a research engineer to participate in projects involving large sequence datasets for population genomics and biodiversity analysis using environmental DNA data. Since then, he participates in projects addressing questions in ecology, evolution, biodiversity, systematics and population genomics.

Karinne Sampaio Valdemarin

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karinne-Valdemarin

Forestry Engineer from the University of São Carlos (2015), where she developed scientific initiation activities in the area of Botany, with emphasis on Plant Taxonomy, working with the Myrtaceae family (2013/2015). Master in Sciences by the Graduate Program in Forest Resources – Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz”/USP (2018), with a dissertation in the area of Plant Taxonomy, with a focus on Eugenia (Myrtaceae). Ph.D. in Plant Biology from the State University of Campinas, in the area of Plant Taxonomy, with a research project working on the following taxa: Eugenia, Myrtaceae, focusing on fruit morphology, colors and phytochemistry (2018-current). Collaborating professor at the MBA in Restoration, Licensing and Environmental Adaptation, teaching subjects with an emphasis on botanical identification (2019-current).

Lucie Zinger

lucie@zinger.fr

https://scholar.google.fr/citations?user=CCIVeq0AAAAJ&hl=fr

https://luciezinger.wordpress.com/

I’m Associate Professor at École Normale Supérieure, Université Paris Sciences & Lettres. My research activities fall at the interface between community ecology and macroecology, microbial ecology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics. My objectives are two-fold: (i) to improve methodological frameworks for environmental DNA-based techniques in order to (ii) better understand the ecological processes shaping microbial and invertebrates communities and how these respond to global changes.

Pierre Taberlet

pierre.taberlet@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dW64iDkAAAAJ&hl=fr

Pierre Taberlet defended his PhD thesis on “Mitochondrial DNA and Intraspecific Phylogeography” at the Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France. His research interests include Molecular Ecology, Conservation Genetics, DNA metabarcoding for biodiversity assessment, Intraspecific phylogeography, and Non-invasive genetic sampling for animal conservation. He has 300 publications and 77.000 citations. He has received awards such as the 1996 CNRS Bronze Medal, the 2005 election as a foreign member of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters, and the 2007 Molecular Ecology Prize. Currently, he is an Emeritus CNRS Senior Researcher at the Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine at Université Grenoble Alpes. He is a member of the Brazilian Team – DNA.

Biodiversity

Vinicius Castro Souza

vcsouza@usp.br

https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Vinicius-Castro-21316024

http://lattes.cnpq.br/2457247935703929

Biodiversity group and Brazilian Team General Coordinator. Biologist, Ph.D. in Plant Taxonomy from University of São Paulo (USP), he is a professor at the University of São Paulo since 1991 and former director of National School of Tropical Botany at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. He is a professor in postgraduate courses at USP and State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and has more than 150 scientific articles and 20 books, most of them as the first author. His best-known book, “Systematic Botany”, now in fourth edition, is the main reference in Brazil, with 40000 copies and more than 2000 citations on Google Scholar. He oriented around 40 master’s and doctoral students, several now professors at Brazilian universities. One of the main highlights of his career is his experience in fieldwork, having surpassed 44000 collections, mainly in rainforests.

Alberto Vicentini

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alberto-Vicentini

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1416853089847332

Researcher at the National Amazon Research Institute (INPA) in Manaus, works with Botany and Plant Ecology and professor in the Postgraduate Program in Botany at INPA. He coordinates a long-term experiment, the Manaus Forest portion of the ForestGeo network, at INPA linked to the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (PDBFF), with more than 250 thousand trees and 2000 species. He believes that in the technological world that is being designed, we need a large amount of data on individuals and populations, so that knowledge of the biodiversity of the Amazon is indeed cumulative and can be incorporated into artificial intelligence processes.

Alexandre Adalardo de Oliveira

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexandre-Oliveira-34

http://lattes.cnpq.br/9299611083775270

Biologist, PhD in Biological Sciences (Botany) from University of São Paulo. He is currently a professor at the University of São Paulo and an associate researcher at the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution (STRI). He has experience in Ecology, with an emphasis on dynamics of tropical forests, acting mainly on plant ecology and tree diversity. Coordinates the Tropical Forest Studies Laboratory (LabTrop) with a primary focus on understanding the structuring of tropical forest communities, working both in the Amazon and in the restinga Atlantic Forest.

André Victor Lucci Freitas (Baku)

baku@unicamp.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andre-Freitas-18

http://lattes.cnpq.br/7824954032846499

Graduated in Biological Sciences from UNICAMP (1991), Master in Ecology from UNICAMP (1994) and PhD in Ecology in (1999), currently full Professor at Unicamp’s Animal Biology Department since 2009. Research lines are mainly focused on butterfly ecology, systematics and conservation, especially of the Nymphalidae family. The main subjects studied by our group are: 1) Population Biology, 2) Taxonomy and Phylogeny, 3) Community Ecology and Conservation.

Cássio van den Berg

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cassio-Van-Den-Berg

Professor (Full) at Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana. I am currently interested in plant phylogeny and population genetics of plants and their interface with evolution, phylogeography, and plant morphology as quantified by multivariate and geometric morphometrics. Currently PI of a molecular biology laboratory in the topics above, with emphasis in Orchidaceae, but also other relevant groups for understanding the evolution of the eastern Brazilian biota and Neotropical biogeography.

Dalton de Souza Amorim

dsamorim@usp.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/4419732039352165

Expert on insect biodiversity, phylogeny, and evolution, MSc and PhD in Zoology (IBUSP), Research Associate of the American Museum of Natural History. Professor at the Universidade Federal da Paraíba (1985-1990), and professor at the Biology Department, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo (1990-2023), now Emeritus Professor. Former Director Undergrad Course of Biological Sciences (USP-RP), former Director Grad Course of Entomology (USP-RP), former Head of the Biology Department (USP-RP).

Daniela Sampaio

https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Daniela-Sampaio-2197103138

http://lattes.cnpq.br/4884638473262780

Biologist, Master in Ecology of Agroecosystems from Escola Superior de Agricultura – ESALQ / USP and PhD in Plant Biology from State University of Campinas. He has experience in Botany, with an emphasis on Taxonomy, working mainly in the identification of tree species. She is currently a professor at the Universidade Estadual Paulista, campus of Rio Preto and expert in Tropical Forest, with two books published.

Diana Castillo Diaz

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Diana-Castillo-Diaz

Diana, originally from Colombia, started her educational journey in her home country with a degree in Forestry Engineering (2010). She further pursued her passion for forest conservation with a Master’s degree from the University of São Paulo, Brazil (2013). After her master’s, Diana expanded her expertise by completing her Ph.D. in Ecology at Guangxi University, China (2021), delving deeper into the ecological aspects of forest regeneration and conservation. Her academic and professional path has taken her across diverse landscapes, working with various organizations and ecosystems. Her work spans a wide range of topics, including the ecophysiology of forest seeds and seedlings, ecosystem regeneration, restoration, and conservation. Currently, Diana is a restoration ecology specialist at Terraformation, leveraging her extensive background to contribute to global ecological restoration efforts. She has been recognized for her contributions with awards like the 2020 Harvard University Arnold Arboretum Ashton Award for Student Research and holds a certificate in Conservation, Restoration & Sustainable Use of Tropical Forest Landscapes from Yale University. Additionally, Diana is a member of the leadership team and focal point for early career engagement in the Seed Conservation Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), reflecting her dedication to seed conservation and the support of emerging professionals in the field.

Gabriel Dalla Colletta

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gabriel-Colletta

http://lattes.cnpq.br/0889018014526361

Biologist and Master in Biological Sciences (Botany) from University of São Paulo, on DNA-barcoding to identify tree species from Atlantic Forest in São Paulo State, Ph.D. in Botany from State University of Campinas, on Plantaginaceae Systematics. He has experience in the field of Botany, with an emphasis on Systematic Botany, working mainly on Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, molecular markers and database. He is the author of three books on flora of tropical forests and Cerrado.

Harri Lorenzi

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Harri-Lorenzi

http://lattes.cnpq.br/0190790711106499

He holds a degree in Agronomic Engineering from the Federal University of Paraná and a master’s degree in Weed Science – The University of Tennessee. He is the founder and director of the Jardim Botânico Plantarum, currently the Brazilian Botanical Garden with the largest number of native species under cultivation. He has experience in the field of Botany, with an emphasis on Taxonomy, especially palm trees. He is the author of several books on Brazilian flora for the general public, many of them considered “best sellers” in this area. In addition to being a general adviser with regard to scientific dissemination to the general public, he will also be a great collaborator in the recognition of the rainforest flora, especially palm trees.

Jefferson Prado

jprado.01@uol.com.br

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jefferson-Prado

http://lattes.cnpq.br/6751432425532870

Master’s and PhD in Biological Sciences (Botany) from the University of São Paulo in 1989 and 1993, respectively. He is currently Scientific Researcher VI at Instituto Pesquisas Ambientais (IPA) (former Instituto de Botânica-IBt). He works in Botany, with emphasis on Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Ferns and Lycophytes, as well as Plant Taxonomic Nomenclature.

João Marcelo Elias

joaomarceloe@yahoo.com.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/8007290234279849

João Marcelo Elias is agronomist and has Masters in Natural Resources Management. He has broad knowledge on agro-environmental area, and now he is responsible for elaborate and implement Projects that includes initiatives of forest recovery, water pollution control, monitoring and environmental management, education, vegetation reports, fauna monitoring and environmental audits. Since 2018 he has been working at the Forest Foundation as Conservation Units´ Manager of Ecological Station & Environmental Protection Area of Barreiro Rico. He also had many experiences abroad, through practical training in the agricultural and environmental areas, carried out in Switzerland, Israel, Norway and United States.

Juliana de Paula Souza

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Juliana-De-Paula-Souza

http://lattes.cnpq.br/9339206398677998

Agronomist (Luiz de Queiroz Higher School of Agriculture – ESALQ/University of São Paulo), with a master’s and doctorate in Botany (Institute of Biosciences/USP). After completing postdoctoral fellowships at Federal University of Minas Gerais, USP and Ohio University, I joined the faculty staff of the Botany Department at Federal University of Santa Catarina, where I´m involved in undergrad/grad teaching and the curatorial team (Vascular Plants) of herbarium FLOR. Besides my research in Plant Systematics focused on Neotropical groups, which includes extensive field experience in floristic surveys and collecting expeditions, I also have a long history of collaborations with specialists in pharmaco-chemical research of medicinal plants native to the Brazilian flora, involving extension actions with local communities for educational activities of valuation and rational use of their natural resources.

Natália Macedo Ivanauskas

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Natalia-Ivanauskas

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5822634990632546

Ph.D. in Plant Biology at the State University of Campinas and former Assistant Professor at the State University of Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Scientific Researcher in the area of Characterization of Ecosystems at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) and currently she is a Level VI Scientific Researcher at the Forestry Institute of the State of São Paulo. She is coordinator of the Nucleus of Specialists in Phytosociology and Plant Ecology of the Botanical Society of Brazil. She is the chapter coordinator of the Brazilian Diagnosis on Invasive Alien Species, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Brazilian Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BPBES). She works in the field of Botany, with an emphasis on Phytogeography.

Otávio Augusto Vuolo Marques

https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Otavio-Augusto-Vuolo-Marques-81463863

http://lattes.cnpq.br/3490024042426833

Biologist, Master in Ecology from Universidade de São Paulo (1992), Ph.D. in Zoology from Universidade de São Paulo (1998) and Postdoctorate from Cornell University, CU, United States. He is currently researcher at Instituto Butantan, one of the main research institutions in Latin America, especially in the study of snakes and other venomous animals, where he was director of the Ecology and Evolution Laboratory. He is currently President of the Brazilian Society of Herpetology and published nine books and about 100 scientific articles, mainly on Rainforest Fauna.

Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pedro-Brancalion

http://lattes.cnpq.br/8146112647703002

Associate Professor at the Department of Forest Science, University of São Paulo, vice-coordinator of the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact and affiliated member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Pedro is a young (<40 years old) researcher that published >170 peer-reviewed papers, including several ones in top academic journals such as Nature and Science, received >8,200 citations, and was recently included among the top 100,000 scientists with the largest research impact. He coordinates large research and technology projects financed by research agencies, NGOs, and private companies. Overall, he is a generalist focused on developing cost-effective solutions to conserve and restore tropical forests, based on interdisciplinary research and co-production of knowledge with multiple stakeholders.

Priscila Orlandini

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Priscila-Orlandini

http://lattes.cnpq.br/0829855852003146

Graduated in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and Master and PhD in Plant Biology from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). I am currently a professor at the Department of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Education at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), at the Center for Agricultural Sciences. I develop research focused on the following lines: Taxonomy and systematics of Euphorbiaceae and Phyllanthaceae, phylogenetic studies and activities aimed at teaching botany in Basic Education. I am the author of the Phyllanthus and Manihot monographs in the Flora e Funga do Brasil project, having completed the closure of the Phyllanthaceae family in the previous edition (Flora do Brasil 2020).

Rafaela Campostrini Forzza

http://lattes.cnpq.br/6249814039461102

Biologist, Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (Botany) from University of São Paulo. She is a senior researcher at the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro, curator of the RB herbarium, coordinator of the Reflora and and Flora do Brasil 2020, in addition to actively contributing to SiBBr and National Biodiversity Monitoring Program of ICMBio. She is a Master and Doctoral advisor at the University of São Paulo, Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro and Federal University of Mato Grosso; member of the CNPq Deliberative Council (CD). She belongs to the Distinguished Counselor to the Board of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) and serves as Brazil’s Focal Point in the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI), of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and as an Open Data Ambassador for Biodiversity at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). She has experience in the field of Botany, with an emphasis on systematics of Angiosperms, conservation, floristic inventories, management and digitalization of biological collections and evolutionary studies, especially in rainforest and inselbergs.

Renato Augusto Ferreira de Lima

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Renato-Lima-4

http://lattes.cnpq.br/2656363859708228

Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of São Paulo (USP), Renato A. F. de Lima is a Brazilian ecologist working on the ecology, succession and restoration of tropical forests and the taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of tree species. He is also interested in subjects related to species conservation, DNA barcoding, bioinformatics and computer programming. He has over 15 years of experience working with tropical forest data, which granted him advanced skills in vegetation sampling methods, species identification, molecular biology, and the management of biodiversity data. He is the creator and maintainer of plantR, a computer program to manage species records from biological collections.

Thiago Bevilacqua Flores

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thiago-Flores

http://lattes.cnpq.br/2708457324665856

Biologist, Master in Plant Biology from State University of Campinas. He is finishing his PhD in Plant Biology at the State University of Campinas. He has experience in Botany, with emphasis on Taxonomy, mainly on Myrtaceae, one of the most important tree families in Neotropical Rainforest. He is the author of six books on Plant Morphology and Taxonomy, mainly on tropical forests and cerrado.

Herison Medeiros

medeiros.herison@gmail.com

http://lattes.cnpq.br/6999864481430254

He holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Acre, a master’s degree in Botany from the National School of Tropical Botany – Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute, and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences (Botany) from the University of São Paulo. He is currently a post-doctoral student at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute. He has experience in Botany, with emphasis on Systematics and Taxonomy of Angiosperms, focusing mainly on the following topics: Flora of the Southwest Amazon, Biodiversity Monitoring in Conservation Units of the Amazon, Training of Botanical Identifiers in the Brazilian Amazon, Floristic Inventories, and evolutionary studies, with emphasis on the Sapindaceae family.

Raquel Colombo Oliveira

Raquel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from USP, a Master’s degree in Ecology and Biodiversity from UNESP-Rio Claro, and a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) in Project Management from USP/Esalq-Piracicaba. She has been working in the environmental sector since 2008, with experience in coordinating and developing environmental studies, impact assessments and management plans in the areas of Environmental Permiting Process and Biodiversity

Axell Kou Minowa

axellkouminowa@gmail.com

http://lattes.cnpq.br/3380470715436328

Graduated in Biological Science and Master in Animal Biology with emphasis on Biodiversity from the University of Campinas – UNICAMP, and currently is a PhD candidate in Ecology, also in UNICAMP. He has experience in meiobenthology, working on the tiny and fragile fauna that composed the meiofaunal community, with emphasis on taxonomy and ecology of Gastrotricha biodiversity, especially of the Paucitubulatina clade.

Pl@ntNet

contact@plantnet-project.org

https://plantnet.org/

The Pl@ntNet team, coordinated by Pierre Bonnet and Alexis Joly, brings together engineers and researchers in computer science and ecology from three French research institutes (CIRAD, INRIA and IRD). Based in Montpellier (France), it has been developing the Pl@ntNet participatory science platform for nearly fifteen years, designed to make it easier to recognise plant species using visual analysis. It is one of the first platforms in the world to use Deep Learning to identify species, and to involve its users in the production and analysis of the data it generates. Free of charge and used daily by several hundred thousand people, it has been contributing to GBIF since 2020, and the data it generates has been used in nearly 700 scientific publications. As part of the Brazilian team, it aims to produce new IT services for analysing new types of images to predict the presence of plant species based on the data produced by the robots and drones deployed.

Pierre Bonnet, Pl@ntNet Co-PI

pierre.bonnet@cirad.fr

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pierre-Bonnet-5

Pierre is botanist, permanent scientist at CIRAD, based in AMAP lab (a Joint Research Unit for plant architecture, specialized in tropical botany and bioinformatics). His topics of interests are Botany, plant ecology, and applied computer science. Since 2009, he works as a scientific coordinator of Pl@ntNet initiative, in order to promote citizen science for gathering new data on plants at world scale. Since 2022, he is PI of the GUARDEN Horizon Europe project, dedicated to safeguard biodiversity and critical ecosystem services across sectors and scales.

Alexis Joly, Pl@ntNet Co-PI

alexis.joly@inria.fr

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexis-Joly

Alexis Joly is research director at Inria with interests in machine learning and computer vision applied to biodiversity. He is co-leading the Pl@ntNet citizen science platform which develops an AI-based plant identification application with 20 million end-users. Since 2014, he has been the PI of the LifeCLEF international virtual lab dedicated to the computer-assisted identification of living organisms (involving tens of research groups world-wide). He has been involved in the steering board of numerous European projects (e.g. GUARDEN, Cos4Cloud) and many national initiatives related to biodiversity informatics and heritage data.

Jean-Christophe Lombardo, AI engineer at INRIA

jean-christophe.lombardo@inria.fr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanchristophelombardo/

As a research engineer at Inria, Jean-Christophe’s areas of interest are Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence. Since 2014, he has been developing the Pl@ntNet identification engine (visual similarity and classification). His objectives are to improve the precision of identifications while minimizing material resources and to exploit available technology for new uses such as multi-species identification, detection of poorly formed observations, etc.

Antoine Affouard, Staff engineer, INRIA

antoine.affouard@inria.fr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoine-affouard-044b01a3/

Antoine Affouard began his involvement with Pl@ntNet by developing sites hosting data from the herbaria in Cayenne, Nouméa and Benin, as well as around twenty other botanical repositories or datasets. He then developed the first two versions of the Pl@ntNet mobile application for Android, as well as TaxaMart (a taxonomic database) and the Smart’flore mobile app for Android. He coordinated developments for the IT overhaul of Pl@ntNet’s information system, initiated in 2017 (NoSQL databases, RESTful services, websites, mobile applications), the aim of which was to enable the platform to cover the world’s flora and to be able to manage the growing volumes of data and users. He also developed the new web services, databases and the Pl@ntNet API platform.

Mathias Chouet, Backend engineer, CIRAD

mathias.chouet@cirad.fr

https://github.com/matcho

Mathias Chouet started working with Pl@ntNet in 2012, developing a replicated data management system for taxonomical referentials and plant observations. In 2018 he participated in the rewriting and deployment of Pl@ntNet v2, including REST APIs and NoSQL databases. Since 2020 he has been involved in different European projects focused on citizen science and biodiversity monitoring, and developed the My Pl@ntNet API and platform that makes AI plant identification available to developers and researchers around the world. Most recent developments include web services for plant observation data retrieval in a DarwinCore compatible format, and adaptation of the Pl@ntNet information system to new contexts such as qualification of plants pathogens, infra-specific determination, or multi-species quadrat images identification.

Hervé Goëau, Computer scientist, CIRAD

herve.goeau@cirad.fr

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Herve-Goeau

Hervé Goëau is the author of more than 50 scientific publications at the crossroads of digital and life sciences. At a time of Big Data and major IT initiatives on biodiversity, his work on the identification of plant species has been one of the pioneers, with volumes numbering in the millions of images and tens of thousands of species. Since 2011, he has been co-organising the lifeclef international initiative dedicated to the evaluation of automatic species identification methods, which each year brings together dozens of international teams specialising in computer vision and machine learning. It is currently working in particular on tropical flora, where herbarium data is often the only available resource, and on scaling up the world’s flora. He is also investing in themes such as the automatic identification of plant pathologies, the determination of their phenology and infra-species identification.

Diego Marcos, Computer scientist, INRIA

diego.marcos@inria.fr

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Diego-Marcos

Diego Marcos is a tenure-track, junior professor at Inria Université Côte d’Azur in France, specializing in developing machine learning and computer vision methods to solve environmental and Earth observation problems. His research interests include creating more interpretable computer vision methods for species identification and building species distribution models using citizen science and Earth observation data. He holds a PhD from Wageningen University and an MSc in Computation Sciences and Engineering from EPFL in Switzerland.

Hugo Gresse, Mobile engineer, INRIA

hugo.gresse@inria.fr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugogresse/

In the summer of 2020, Hugo became a part of the Pl@ntNet team, focusing on enhancing the React Native Android and iOS mobile applications. His contributions were aimed at accelerating the app’s performance, boosting its reliability, and enriching the user experience to make plant identification accessible to all. Beyond Pl@ntNet, Hugo is an active community member in Montpellier, France, where he organizes technology meetups and conferences, including SunnyTech. He is also known for his dedication to open-source projects, while working at INRIA for Pl@ntNet and in his free time.

Thomas Paillot, Front engineer, INRIA

thomas.paillot@inria.fr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaspaillot/

Thomas Paillot started working on the Pl@ntNet website mid 2023 focusing on migrating the core technical components of the site to an up to date version (Vue 2 › Vue 3 and Nuxt 2 › Nuxt 3). From the beginning of 2024 he started an ongoing effort of redesigning the website from the ground up. He is also working on the design and the development of new interfaces to support new uses of the platform: GeoPl@ntNet, diseases identification, vegetation surveys.

Rémi Palard, Geo & Fullstack engineer, CIRAD

remi.palard@cirad.fr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/remi-palard/

Rémi Palard, an experienced full-stack developer with 20 years of expertise in IT, started working with Pl@ntNet in 2023. He is involved in developing the workflow and conceiving GeoPl@ntNet, a mapping tool based on the SDM model for plant prediction. His responsibilities also include managing data and overseeing spatial data administration.

Maxime Fromholtz, Geo & backend engineer, INRIA

maxime.fromholtz@inria.fr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxime-fromholtz-5070b760/

Involved in Pl@ntNet project since February 2023, Maxime is in charge of conception and automation of map service providing based on SDM model inference as well as spatial database management and spatial data processing.

Jean-François Molino, Botanist, IRD

jean-francois.molino@ird.fr

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean-Francois-Molino

Docteur in ecology, Jean-françois is IRD research fellow at UMR AMAP “Botany and bioinformatics of plant architecture” (CIRAD-CNRS-INRAE-IRD-UM). He studies the specific and structural diversity of tropical rainforests, particularly in the Amazon.

Vanessa Hequet, Botanist, IRD

vanessa.hequet@ird.fr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-hequet-1a091b180/

A tropical botany engineer for over 25 years, Vanessa worked for 10 years in French Guiana and 15 years in New Caledonia. Ella spent 2 years in New York, 2 years in Quito (Ecuador) and 1 year in Guadeloupe. She is an expert in the identification of tropical species in French Guiana and New Caledonia, and more widely in South America and Oceania. Her skills cover forest ecology, taxonomy, rare and endangered species and invasive species. She is also Expert botanist for the RLA Flore NC (Red List Authority, IUCN referent in New Caledonia)

Insights

Sílvia Helena Galvão de Miranda

shgdmira@usp.br

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0935-8917

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5692406104645497

Sílvia is a member of the Insights sub-group, within the Brazilian Team. She is a Professor in the Department of Economics, Administration and Sociology, at the University of São Paulo/Esalq. She is an agronomist and holds a master’s and PhD degree in Applied Economics, and her fields of research and interest comprise, among others, environmental economics and food security. Within the Insights, she is focused on identifying the potentialities of the species in terms of the ecosystemic services of provision.

Fernando Elias Corrêa

fernando.correa@cepea.esalq.usp.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/0362415628441420

Fernando Corrêa is a member of Insights subgroup within the Brazilian Team. Fernando is a Data Science specialist and holds both master’s and PhD degrees in Computer Engineering from São Paulo University (USP). Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Researcher in data management applied to agribusiness at the Center for Artificial Intelligence – C4AI. His research is focused in artificial intelligence, Spatial Temporal and Data management.

Luciana Paolucci

lucci70@gmail.com

http://lattes.cnpq.br/8239966603000273

Luciana Paolucci is a member of the Insights group of the Brazilian Team, responsible for Cultural Ecosystems Services. PhD and master’s in communication sciences, ECA – USP, Brazil. Participated in the research group Planning and Management of spaces for Tourism. Undergraduate and Graduate Professor of Advertising, Public Relations, and Tourism courses. As a consultant, she develops work regarding the coordination of sustainable tourism development plans and projects related to market research, business plan, tourism in conservation units, project management and integrated communication.

Patrícia Ortiz Monteiro

patyortizmonteiro@terra.com.br

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patricia-Monteiro-14

https://lattes.cnpq.br/8048616778601408

Patrícia is a member of the “Insights” subgroup of the Brazilian Team. She holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences and is a professor in the Human Development Graduate Program at the Universidade de Taubaté, Brazil. She is currently a professor affiliated with the Department of Management and Business and the Graduate Programs in Human Development and Education at the University of Taubaté, and a professor in the Graduate Program in Education at Estácio de Sá University. She has long-term experience working with traditional communities in socio-environmental projects. She is a founding partner of Impact Hub Ubatuba

Ary C. Azevedo Jr.

castroazevedo@ufpr.br

https://independent.academia.edu/AryAzevedoJr

http://lattes.cnpq.br/8293600258731349

Associate Professor in the Communication Dept. at Federal University of Paraná (DeCom/UFPR), with a Multimedia PhD from the Institute of Arts at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). Advertising professional, leader of the Electoral Communication Research Group (CEL) and member of Consumption and Communication Research Group (ECCOS), and Consultant for the Energy sustainability extension project (Energi). Filiatted to Brazilian Association of Researchers in Advertising (ABP2), the Latin American Network of Researchers in Advertising (Relaip) and the International Association of Branding Researchers (Observatório de Marcas). Member of the Brazilian Team – Insights as Communication Consultant.

Ana Caroline de Bassi Padilha

anabassi@ufpr.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/9835654484759872

Professor in the Department of Communication at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR). Graduated in Graphic Design (UTFPR) and Social Communication (UFPR), post-graduated in Administration and Marketing (FAE). Master and PhD in Technology and Society (UFPR). Your research interests are focused on Design Studies, with an emphasis on issues related to material culture and domesticity. Researcher at the Eccos Group – Studies on Communication, Consumption and Society. Member of the Brazilian Team – Insights in Communication Management.

Ayumi N. Shibayama

ayu.shiba@ufpr.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/2382244971250704

Professor of the Advertising and Propaganda course at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) with Bachelor degree in social Communication Publicity and Advertising (PUC-PR), Graduation in French Language (UFPR) and Japanese Language (UFPR), postgraduate degree in Business Administration and Marketing (FAE). Master and PhD in linguistic studies: languages, cultures and identities (UFPR). Researcher at the Eccos Group. Member of the Brazilian Team – Insights in Communication Management.

Werner Grau Neto

wgrau@pn.com.br

https://www.pinheironeto.com.br/profissionais/werner-grau-neto

Werner Grau Neto serves domestic and international clients ranging from private companies to multilateral and development entities, among other supranational bodies, in advisory and litigation matters. Werner concentrates his practice in environmental and constitutional law issues, with a strong emphasis on advisory and litigation in a vast array of topics such as government relations, investigative procedures, and litigation with regard to environmental licensing and damages, large accidents with implications for the environment and indigenous peoples, traditional communities and other vulnerable groups. He also acts in the advisory and litigation spheres on issues related to climate change, sustainability and ESG, ranging from consultancy to multilateral entities and governments in the formulation and examination of legal frameworks to both public and private disputes involving such issues. His most active areas of practice are mining, energy and forestry/agribusiness, as well as industries in general.

Carlos Edson Strasburg Junior

cstrasburg@pn.com.br

https://www.pinheironeto.com.br/profissionais/carlos-edson-strasburg-junior

Carlos Edson Strasburg Junior has extensive experience in litigation and consulting matters, practicing in the intellectual property (IP), distribution agreements, civil liability, and other private law matters. The intellectual property cases mainly involve undue use of confidential information, trademarks, unfair competition and copyrights.

Ciro Torres Freitas

cfreitas@pn.com.br

https://www.pinheironeto.com.br/profissionais/ciro-torres-freitas

Ciro Torres Freitas specializes in technology law, with an emphasis on internet and data protection matters. Ciro has extensive experience in representing domestic and international companies in investigations, government requirements, administrative proceedings and court disputes related to data breach, liability of intermediaries, image rights and new technologies such as facial recognition and artificial intelligence. He advises large technology multinationals on complex cases, including public civil actions, with sound knowledge of the stand of Brazilian authorities regarding data protection and other technology matters. Ciro also practices in intellectual property law.

Gabriela Chade

gchade@pn.com.br

https://www.pinheironeto.com.br/profissionais/gabriela-pereira-rodrigues-chade

Gabriela Chade is in the 4th year of law school at Pontificia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP). She is an intern at Pinheiro Neto Advogados, working mainly with technology and intellectual property cases.

Juliana Gonçalez Gragnani

julianagragnani@hotmail.com

http://simap.piracicaba.sp.gov.br/

Juliana is part of the “Insights” subgroup on the Brazillian Team. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management from ESALQ/USP and a Master’s in Science from CENA/USP. She has been working for ten years as an Environmental Analyst at the Secretary of Infrastructure and Environment of the Municipality of Piracicaba. She is currently on the board of directors of the Municipal Commission on Climate Change (COMCLIMA) as an executive secretary, and works especially with conservation of protected areas.

Osmar Bambini

osmar.bambini@umgrauemeio.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/osmar-bambini-81a308/

Osmar Bambini is the CIO – Chief Innovability Officer and Co-founder of umgrauemio. He has a background in Advertising and Marketing with extensive experience in innovation, sustainability, and circular economy. He’s involved in developing national and international partnerships and connections. Osmar Bambini is recognized as a Top Innovator by Uplink, a program of the World Economic Forum. He’s responsible for the application and participation in acceleration programs aimed at expanding institutional and strategic relationships to generate new impactful business opportunities aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He also oversees the implementation, monitoring, and management of umgrauemio as a Certified B Corporation.

Ludovic Beghin

ludovic.beghin@umgrauemeio.com

Highly skilled software developer with experience in developing A.I. algorithms for fire geolocation. Holds a mechanical engineering degree from École Centrale de Lyon and UFRJ. Eiffel Excellence Scholarship recipient. Commitment to continuous learning and innovation. Personal mission statement to have a positive impact against climate change through technology.

Rodrigo Damasceno

damascenorodrigo1993@gmail.com

https://lattes.cnpq.br/5994207655389183

Rodrigo Damasceno is B.S. in Economic Sciences from University of São Paulo (Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture). Since 2015, he has been a researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (Cepea). He has been working on research projects about Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) and economic evaluation of agricultural defense programs (foot and mouth disease, swine fever, agricultural surveillance), especially in data collection and database organization, bibliographic reviews on these subjects, developing economic scenarios for the elaboration of cost benefit analysis (CBA). Member of Brazilian Team: Insights in Provisioning Ecosystem Services.

Nina Lys de Abreu Nunes

ninalys@usp.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/1407947268657576

Researcher at USP-SUSTEN program in the project “Sociobiodiversity of the State of São Paulo” at the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences, and Letters (FFCLRP/USP). Coordinator of the Research and Knowledge Translation Center for the “ArticulaFito – Value Chains in Medicinal Plants” project at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ). Ph.D. in Strategic Public Policies and Development (PPED) from the Institute of Economics (IE) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Master’s degree in Botany was earned from the National School of Tropical Botany at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute. Expertise in Applied Botany, Political Ecology, and Ecological Economics, with a focus on the analysis and evaluation of Public Policies, Bioeconomy, Sociobiodiversity, Biodiversity Conservation, and Species Distribution Patterns.

Eimear Nic Lughadha

e.niclughadha@kew.org

I lead the Conservation Assessment and Analysis team in Kew’s Conservation Science Department. Our focus is primarily at species level, utilising Kew’s outstanding collections, particularly herbarium specimens, to help inform conservation action by developing and applying suitable analytical methods to enhance prioritisation, improve Red List assessments and to understand and monitor the status of the world’s plants. My own research and professional interests include: Enhancing access to plant diversity data and maximising their relevance to conservation and sustainable use outcomes; Documenting and interpreting large-scale patterns of plant diversity in conservation contexts; Development and maintenance of global authority files of plant names and species; Systematics and conservation of neotropical Myrtoideae (Myrtaceae)

Lygia Maria

lygia.tmendes@gmail.com

Lygia Maria is an undergraduate student in Biological Sciences (Bachelor’s and Teaching Degree) at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP). Currently, she works as a scientific initiation scholarship holder in the area of Myrtaceae taxonomy, mainly focusing on Eugenia. She is also a collaborator on the NewFor Project. Her areas of interest include plant taxonomy as well as biodiversity conservation. She has previous experience in teaching and extension activities with an emphasis on botany.

Nathalia Cristina Costa do Nascimento

nnascimento@usp.br

http://lattes.cnpq.br/8761969129214951

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathalia-Nascimento

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nath%C3%A1lia-nascimento-88282b35/

Nathália is a geographer that holds a PhD in Earth System Science from the National Institute for Space Research. Her research focuses on modeling socio-environmental systems with a focus on human-nature interaction. She has extensive research experience in the Amazon.

Paula Arigoni

https://www.linkedin.com/in/paula-arigoni-7a19a813/

Paula holds a degree in Agronomic Engineering from UNESP – São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” and a specialization in Corporate Communication from Metodista University of São Paulo – USP. She is currently the Relationship and Projects Manager at FEALQ – Luiz de Queiroz Agricultural Studies Foundation and the mother of Pedro. She leads projects in Sustainability and Institutional Relations.

Matilda Brown

m.brown2@kew.org

Matilda Brown is a post-doctoral researcher in the Conservation Analysis and Assessment team at RBGKew. Their research is focused on data-driven approaches to plant conservation, including understanding the covariates and drivers of extinction risk and potential impacts of the loss of threatened species. Other research interests include: understanding the relationships between traits, climate and evolutionary history, increasing accessibility of plant diversity and distribution data, and applying advanced computational methods to the palaeobotanical record.

Contact us

+55 (19) 3447 6603

brazilianteam@usp.br

Herbário ESA – ESALQ/USP
Alameda Principal – Agronomia, Piracicaba – SP

About us

Schematic Summary of Field Activities
Proposed for the XPRIZE Rainforest

Our solutions

Taxonomic Accuracy and Validation

Visible biodiversity

“Invisible” biodiversity

Data collection using innovative technologies:

Our technology

Unmanned Flying Laboratory

DNA barcoding and metabarcoding

Our team

Robotics

Bioacoustics

Remote Sensing

DNA

Biodiversity

Insights

Contact us

Partners

Institutions

About us

Schematic Summary of Field Activities Proposed for the XPRIZE Rainforest

Our solutions

Taxonomic Accuracy and Validation

Visible biodiversity

“Invisible” biodiversity

Data collection using innovative technologies:

Our technology

Unmanned Flying Laboratory

DNA barcoding and metabarcoding

Our team

Robotics

Bioacoustics

Remote Sensing

DNA

Biodiversity

Insights

Contact us

Partners

Institutions

Schematic Summary of Field Activities
Proposed for the XPRIZE Rainforest