Institute at Brown for Environment and Society

Ada Cecilia Bersoza Hernández ’15 is a Biology concentrator from Monterrey, Mexico interested in ecology. She will be working with Professor Dov Sax (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) and Dr. Qinfeng Guo (USDA Forest Service) to explore the extent to which climate conditions limit species high-latitude or high-elevation boundaries. She will compare temperatures experienced by woody plant species across North America at their highest latitude and altitude to help inform the extent to which climate per se (as opposed to other factors) limits species distributions. This analysis will provide insights that will be used to help develop conservation approaches in the context of climate change. Ada also is a 2014 Henry D. Sharpe, Jr. ’45 UTRA awardee and co-funded by the University’s UTRA (Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards) program.