Gerardo Celis Azofeifa
University of Florida
Natural Resources and Environment / Costa Rica
Research Topic: Seedling Characteristics of Native Tree Species for Reforestation

I was born in Costa Rica. When I was four, my entire family moved to the US where my father pursued his graduate studies in Resource Economics. Eight years later, when we returned to Costa Rica, I was fascinated by the rainforests and began to develop an interest in the environment and for understanding the impact of humans on it. This motivated me to pursue a career in this area. As a first step, upon conclusion of High School, I initiated a program in Environmental Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. I spent one year there and then returned to Costa Rica, where I completed my undergraduate studies in Biology at Universidad Latina. During college years I was a TA in Botany and Zoology courses. My undergraduate research, entitled: "Seed germination of two sympatric palm species: Chamaedorea tepejilote Liebm. and Chamaedorea Costaricana Oerst (Arecaceae) in natural conditions and in a nursery," was the result of a pro bono collaboration with the National Museum. I also coauthored, with a teacher and a classmate, a guide of trees entitled "Guia de Arboles y Arbustos del Centro de Conservacion Santa Ana".

After concluding my undergraduate studies I taught Biostatistics at the same university and was awarded a scholarship by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) to participate in the program Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) at La Selva Biological Station. The research I conducted was entitled: "Do patterns of seed germination and seedling biomass allocation reflect a shade tolerance syndrome in Gnetum leybodii Tul. (GNETACEAE)?." Later on, I became a TA, under Professor Luis Diego GÛmez, for an OTS course entitled"Plantains, Iguanas and Shamans: An Introduction to Field Ethnobiology."

At this point in my career, I felt that I needed to develop a broader understanding of environmental processes by incorporating the interdisciplinary dimension. In particular I was interested in how humans could help restore the environment. Thus, I decided to pursue a master's in interdisciplinary ecology at the University of Florida (UF). In 2003, I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, which was suspended due to budgetary constraints; then, in 2004, I obtained a 9-credits out-of-state tuition exemption from the Florida-Costa Rica Linkage Institute (FLORICA). Once in Florida, I landed a TA position at the Biological Sciences Department for the Laboratory of Integrated Principles of Biology I. This covered my first year. For the second year I was awarded a fellowship by UF's Tropical Conservation and Development Program (TCD) within the Center for Latin American Studies. My Master's thesis is entitled: "Restoration of abandoned pasture lands with native tree species in Costa Rica." I just returned from setting up the field experiment, an activity that has been possible thanks to a Compton's fellowship.

As for my future plans, I would like to pursue a PhD in Urban ecology, specifically in restoration. Upon completion of my graduate studies, I plan to return to Costa Rica and continue research in the area of urban restoration ecology, teach courses at local universities, become part of teams performing environmental impact assessments and designing policy reforms, and develop community level activities. With the information generated from my research, I also want to be able to create programs that will help to establish a better interpretation of the environmental impacts of urban expansions and to give a solid basis for urban planning and policy design.