Join us for an engaging seminar with Dr. Sisimac Duchicela, Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and researcher at the Mountain Ecology and Biogeography Lab. Dr. Duchicela will share her groundbreaking work on the ecological processes shaping vegetation patterns in temperate and tropical alpine ecosystems, with a focus on the Ecuadorian Andes. Her research explores the impacts of climate change on plant communities and how these changes influence ecological restoration and sustainable land management.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn how climate change and land use are altering ecosystems that provide essential goods and services to millions of people!

Event Details:
Speaker: Dr. Sisimac Duchicela
Title: Biogeography and Ecological Restoration in the Alpine: Implementing Ecological Theory Across Scales 
Date: Tuesday, March 24th, 2026
Time: 4PM-5PM
Location: Biology 136

Hosted by Dr. Anping Chen, Research Scientist, CSU Department of Biology

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Abstract
Our research at the Mountain Ecology and Biogeography Lab studies the ecological processes driving changes in vegetation patterns at multiple scales with a focus on temperate and tropical alpine ecosystems. Specifically, because climate change is expected to alter the composition and distribution of plant communities, we installed climate change experiments in the Ecuadorian Andes to test how these changes will impact tropical alpine plant communities. Furthermore, our research aims to use these findings to advance sustainable management and ecological restoration research. To do this, we consider social, economic, and environmental factors to understand the motivations and potential benefits of these projects. Because these ecosystems provide important goods and services to millions of people, it is important to understand how changes in land use and climate change will alter plant communities and potentially their availability.