Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Sorocaba, SP, Brazil

My interest in biology grew together with observations of plants, birds, bugs and worms in the backyard where I used to live. I was able to mix all these things together studying plant-animal interactions in my career. I am especially interested in understand how seed predators and dispersers influence plant regeneration in natural and disturbed environments. I am also interested in biological invasions, biodiversity conservation and bird ecology. My interests other than science include history and politics (a hard topic nowadays). I am especially concerned by environmental degradation and poverty and how we can improve people’s life.

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

I am Professor of Plant Systematics at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. I study the taxonomy and systematics of ferns and lycophytes of the Neotropics. I have a special interest in using phylogeny and biogeography as tools to recover the evolutionary history of ferns. I have been the Curator of the Herbarium BHCB (UFMG) since 2004. I have seved as Associate Editor for Acta Botanica Brasilica since 2010. I love to travel in general, but especially to know different types of vegetation in mountainous regions and, of course, to collect ferns.

Universidad Nacional del Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina

I have a PhD in Biology (UN Comahue, 2002), and have been a researcher at CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council – Argentina) since December 2004. My interests and experience are with ethnobiology. My perspective is biocultural –linking ecology and culture– and I attempt to understand the connection between humans and nature in diverse ecological and cultural settings. I have published on a variety of different ethnobotanical and ethnoecological topics.

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

I am currently Professor of Cryptogamae Taxonomy at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. As a researcher, my interests have focused on the physiology of algae and aspects of the community ecology of phytoplankton. I have served as Assistant Editor for Acta since February 2015. In addition to my interests in botany, I enjoy observing all kinds of interactions among species of different taxonomic groups, but I particularly love bird behavior. I like to play sports and enjoy the opportunities it provides to meet and socialize with different people, including those with other professional interests.

Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco, Petrolina, PE, Brazil

I am Researcher of “Núcleo de Ecologia e Monitoramento Ambiental” from Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco. As a researcher, I am especially interested in macro-ecology, geographic distribution of species, biological invasions and biodiversity conservation, especially when it involves algae and aquatic plants. In addition to my interests in botany and ecology, I like to meet and socialize with different people, and play soccer with my children.

Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Botucatu, SP, Brazil

I’m a Professor of Ecology at the Institute of Biosciences of São Paulo State University (UNESP), campus Botucatu. I’m passionate about natural history and use plant-animal interactions as the main model of my research in ecology. My main interests are floral biology, plant sexual systems and pollination ecology, and despite working in different pollination systems, I’m fascinated about hawkmoth-pollinated plants, and try to understand the ecology and evolution of plant-hawkmoth interactions at different scales, varying from individuals to ecosystems.

Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil

I am Professor of Plant Ecology at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, in São Paulo. My research interest is focused in plant ecology, particularly in questions related to populations and communities.

Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil

I am currently a Professor at the Universidade Federal do Ceará, campus do Pici, Fortaleza, Brazil. I have a PhD. in Botany from the Universidade Federal de Viçosa (Minas Gerais State, Brazil). Plants in nature are continuously exposed to several biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, my main interests in research are related to the ability of plants to respond to such stresses based on morphological and anatomical characters. The use of morphoanatomical characters as an additional tool the tanoxonomy of plants is also of great interest of mine. More specifically, my research lies in the field of ecological plant anatomy especially regarding leaf anatomy and secretory structures.

Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, RJ, Brazil

I am Professor of Conservation and Restoration Ecology at the Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ). I have Ph.D. in Botany – Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro. My research interest comprises ecological restoration, functional traits, and forest succession models. Our research group (Laboratório de Ecologia Aplicada – LEAp) has been developing studies about ecological filters, the role of past land use on natural regeneration, and effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning.

University of Cagliari, Italy

I am a post-doctoral researcher at the Biodiversity Conservation Center (CCB) of the University of Cagliari (Italy). Since 2012 I have been involved in several european research projects in Biodiversity Conservation and Agrobiodiversity. My expertise is mainly focused on seed image analysis, applied on threatened species, on cultivars of agronomic interest and on the identification of archaeological seeds.

Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

My main research interest is to understand how species adapt to changes in the environment from a functional and ecophysiological perspective. I am particularly interested in studying the mechanisms by which plants display different ecological strategies to respond to environmental changes, especially in the Neotropics. I am currently a Postdoctoral fellow at the Universidade Federal do Paraná, and a collaborator at University of Oxford and Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso. I am also a mother of two girls, who are discovering a whole new world through their eyes.

Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil

I’m Full Professor at the Federal University of Bahia, coordinator of Flora Laboratory and curator (Vascular Plants) of Herbarium ALCB. My research is focused on plant systematics and conservation of biodiversity. My systematic research involves taxonomy, morphology  and evolution with emphasis in Asteraceae family. The floristic inventories (Atlantic Forest, Campos Rupestres, Cerrado) conducted by group from Flora lab have provided new findings for environmental conservation in state of Bahia. Besides, I have a special attention for the morphology concepts in Asteraceae producing specific literature for a better comprehension of the family.

Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil

I am Professor of Plant Biology and Ecology at the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, in Minas Gerais. I have been working with plant reproductive biology and ecology of Cerrado vegetation, the Neotropical savanna areas in Central Brazil. I am particularly interested in the pollination biology and alternative asexual reproduction strategies of Cerrado plants as a way to understand the dynamics and evolution of the Cerrado itself, and contribute to conservation strategies for this threatened conservation hotspot. I have been served as Assistant Editor for Acta since 2011.

Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

I am Associate Professor at the Universidade de São Paulo – USP. My research involves plant systematics and biodiversity education, with a focus on biodiversity conservation. My systematics research, particularly regarding diversity and evolution, is focused on monocots. My research group has been working on conservation projects in high elevation areas known as campos rupestres. We have also performed research involving local communities, focusing on their environmental perception, and engaging local and scientific knowledge.

Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil

My research field is ecology and morphological and molecular taxonomy of macroscopic Basidiomycota. Our team is trying to understand how diverse and how this group of fungi is distributed in space and time in Brazil. Besides Basidiomycota, I also teach Bioethics in UFPE and, occasionally, Lichens and Fungi of Economical and Ecological Importance. As field biologist, I love travelling to be in contact with nature, not only for work, but for leisure and to remember how little we know and how much we have to do.

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

I am Full Professor at the Department of Botany of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. My research area comprises biosystematic and evolutionary studies with emphasis in Iridaceae and Poaceae species. My major interest is the knowledge of the biodiversity using phylogenetic and population genetic tools to support conservation actions.

I am Professor of Plant Diversity and Evolution at the Universidade de Brasília, DF, Brazil. My research focus is on processes that drive Neotropical plant diversification, for which I collect data at various scales, from genomics and morphology to pollination and ecological communities. I am absolutely fascinated by the Neotropical understory, especially by its most charismatic residents: the gingers. Whenever I can, I ride my bike around Brasília and I’m also passionate about music, especially from our rich Brazilian culture.

Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG, Brazil

I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Applied Ecology program at the Federal University of Lavras. My research interests include biogeography, macro-ecology, phylogenetic diversity, ecological modeling, vegetation ecology and conservation biology. I am especially interested in understanding how ecological niches have evolved in the past and the implications for biogeographic patterns and species responses to future environmental changes.