Laboratory of Ecology and Evolution of
Social-ecological Systems
Albuquerque's Lab
Albuquerque's Lab
RESEARCHERS
Principal Investigator
Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque
I am full professor at Botany Departament from Federal University of Pernambuco. I am interested in understanding all the dimensions and effects of human relations with nature, this is the reason my approach is interdisciplinar. My research interests involve anthropology, evolutionary psychology, cultural evolution, human behavioral ecology, ethnobiology, human ecology, ecology and evolution. I try to understand how we co-evolve with the environment and other species. This is why I explore how the human mind has been evolutionarily shaped to deal with the complexity of the world we live in, as well as all the processes associated with the transmission and storage (memory) of information and strategies for exploration and management of natural resources. I am also interested in the evolution of science and scientometry, and cognitive and cultural evolution in the human species.
Curriculum Vitae:
PhD students
Daniel Carvalho Pires de Sousa
I have a bachelor’s degree in biology from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE). Having completed my master’s in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation, I am now a PhD student in the UFRPE’s postgraduate program in the same. I am currently studying the human adaptive behavior that is information sharing using the research model of the structural core of knowledge of medicinal plants and local medical systems.
Joelson Moreno B. de Moura
Joelson has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences (2016) from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE). Having completed his master’s in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation (2018), he is now a PhD candidate in the UFRPE’s postgraduate program in the same. His research area of interest is understanding the processes that contributed to the evolution of the human mind. For this, he works from the perspective of evolutionary ethnobiology that addresses the evolutionary past’s influence on current human behavior and how this reflects in the relationship between people and their environments.
Risoneide Henriques da Silva
Risoneide has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the Federal University of Campina Grande and a master’s in botany from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE). She is currently a PhD candidate in the UFRPE’s Postgraduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation. She is interested in understanding how the human mind has evolved and its current operations for solving different challenges, and how this helps explain human behavior toward biota.
Janilo Italo Melo Dantas
I have a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the State University of Alagoas and a master’s in botany from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE). I am currently a PhD candidate in the UFRPE’s Postgraduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation. My main research area of interest is evolutionary ethnobiology. I am currently conducting scientific work to understand which factors associated with the transmission of cultural information influence establishment of mutations and maladaptive biocultural traits in local medical systems.
Bruno Melo de Sousa
Graduated in Biological Sciences, specialized in Ethnobiology and Master in Ecology and Conservation from the State University of Paraíba. Currently, a botany PhD candidate at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, his interest is analysis and determination the social, economic, and environmental factors that structure the knowledge and/or use of medicinal resources by human populations.
Edwine Soares
Edwine has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Pernambuco. Having completed her master’s in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, she is now a PhD candidate in its postgraduate program in the same. Her main area of interest is cultural evolution in social-ecological systems.
Mirela Natalia Santos
Mirela graduated in biological sciences with emphasis in environmental sciences from the Federal University of Pernambuco (2014). She is master’s student in the Graduate Program in Botany at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco. Currently, a Plant Biology PhD candidate at the Federal University of Pernambuco. Mirela has been dedicated to the study of local ecological knowledge, and is interested in understanding the factors that modulate the relationship between people and natural resources.
Aníbal da Silva Cantalice
I have a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and a master’s in environment and development, both from the Federal University of Piauí. I am currently conducting my doctoral research in the Postgraduate Program in Ethnobiology and Nature Conservation at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco in collaboration with the Laboratory of Ecology and Evolution of Social-ecological Systems at the Federal University of Pernambuco. My main research areas of interest are: (a) understanding the environmental and socioeconomic drivers that influence the selection of useful species in the Caatinga and (b) understanding how those drivers influence beta and taxonomic diversity at the macroscale.
Marcela Maria Albuquerque Silva
A forestry engineer from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (2015) with a master’s in plant production from the same institution (2020), Marcela investigated the wood biochemistry and physiology of native and semiarid plants. She is currently a PhD student in plant biology at the Federal University of Pernambuco, working in the field of ecology and conservation research, with an emphasis on the phytochemistry of medicinal plants in the Caatinga
Jorge Izaquiel Alves de Siqueira
Degree in Biological Sciences (Federal University of Piauí/2019), Master in Biological Sciences (Botany) by the National Museum, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2021). He is currently a doctoral student in the Postgraduate Program in Plant Biology at the Federal University of Pernambuco. Interested in the areas of ethnobiology and teaching, evolutionary ethnobiology, with special interest in factors involved in the structuring and evolution of local medical systems.
MSc students
Letícia Elias
Degree in Biological Sciences Degree and Bachelor's Degree from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES). She is currently a Master's student in Plant Biology at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), with experience in the areas of Plant Morphology and Anatomy. My interest is centered on the relationship between human beings and medicinal plants, more specifically on assessing whether morphoanatomical attributes explain the preference for using medicinal plants.
Undergrad students
Clara de Assis Andrade
Clara is an ungraduated student in Biological Sciences with an emphasis on Environmental Sciences at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). Scientific Initiation Researcher of the study "Public Policies, Food Security Situation of Family Farmers and Covid-19: A Cross-sectional Study in Municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte".
Danilo Vicente Oliveira
I graduated in biological sciences from the Federal University of Pernambuco. I am currently studying environmental management at the Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of Pernambuco. My current areas of interest are macroecology, study of people’s interaction with social-ecological and cultural systems, and data sciences application to ecology.
Carlos Vinícius Silveira da Cunha Melo
I am an undergraduate biological sciences student at the Federal University of Pernambuco. I have been an intern at the Laboratory of Ecology and Evolution of Social-ecological Systems for four years. Over this time, I have been carrying out research in the field of ethnobiology, more specifically, conducting studies on the perception of local people about the risks that can compromise their ability to deal with problems related to food, health, education, and leisure.
Valdir Moura Junior
Valdir has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the Federal University. His work focuses on the perception of rural communities in the semiarid region about the risks posed by climate change to human health, and how they adapt to those risks.
Karoline Juliana Costa da Silva
I graduated in biological sciences from the Catholic University of Pernambuco with an emphasis on environment and biodiversity. I am currently a graduate student in agronomy at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco. My main research area of interest is the investigation and analysis of the interrelationship between human beings and plant resources in dry tropical forests on social media.
Antônio Carlos do Nascimento Mendonça
Antônio is an undergraduated biological sciences student from the Federal University of Pernambuco. His study area is understanding how public interest in mammals is influenced by social media and how this influence can be used to help and enhance the conversations on fauna.
Yasmin Antonino Costa dos Santos
Yasmim is an undergraduate biological sciences student at the Federal University of Pernambuco. Her research area of interest is understanding the psychological and cultural factors that influence human interest in a particular animal species, and their implications for species conservation strategies.
Maria Vittoria Alves de Santana
I am an undergraduate biological sciences student at the Federal University of Pernambuco. My area of interest is plant biology, with an inclination toward ecology and conservation of species. research area encompasses interpretation of the public perception on the caatinga ecosystem.
Fábio Antônio Mota Fonseca da Silva
I am an undergraduated in geography strudent from the Federal University of Pernambuco. My research seeks to understand public perception of the effects of climate and environmental change as factors that can lead to new pandemics.