Principle Investigator
Hong Liu
Dr Hong Liu is a tenured Professor in the Department of Earth and Environment, Florida International University (FIU). She is a conservation ecologist whose research focuses on generating insights that can guide conservation and management efforts for endangered plant species. Her current research addresses important environmental issues such as the impact of global changes on rare orchid populations as well as the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of heavily exploited plant species. Dr. Liu has first- and co-authored a total of 121 articles, reports, proceedings and book chapters, among which 96 are peer-reviewed and many in top journals such as Conservation Biology and Biological Conservation. Dr Liu’s research on wild orchid conservation has served to support various biodiversity conservation initiatives internationally. She promoted and facilitated dialogues among nature reserve managers, biodiversity researchers and policymakers. She was able to apply her research on the wild orchid trade to the Red List assessment of Chinese orchids, pointing out the significant underestimation of the threats to Chinese orchids from unregulated trade. She has served as a member of the IUCN SSC Orchid Specialist Group since 2010 and the wild orchid trade subgroup since 2016, under the IUCN umbrella.
Postdoctoral Associates
Haydee Borrero
Dr. Borrero is currently on a courtesy postdoctoral appointment with the lab. She was also a PhD student who studied the role of biotic interactions on tropical orchid population dynamics in southern Florida and Cuba. Her dissertation is titled “ Population ecology of a Caribbean epiphytes Trichocentrum undulatum (Orchidaceae): defining habitat and the effects of herbivory and hurricanes at its peripheral and core range”. She is currently studying pollination and restoration ecology of threatened orchids.
Students
Past Students & Postdoctoral Associates
Qiong Ding
- Postdoctoral Associate
- Dates w/ Lab as Postdoc: Fall 2018
- Research Topic: Mycorrhiza diversity pattern in tropical forests on Hainan Island, China
Yan Chen
- Postdoctoral Associate
- Dates w/ Lab as Postdoc: Fall 2018 - Spring 2019
- Research Topic: Conservation challenges of plant species with high social and economic values, as illustrated by the case of agarwood, Aquilaria sinensis
Jason Downing
- PhD Student & Postdoctoral Associate
- MS awarded in 2010; PhD awarded in 2016, as an "FIU World's Ahead Graduate"
- Dates w/ Lab as Postdoc: Fall 2018 - Spring 2019
- Research Topic: Consequences of Anthropogenic and Global Change on Orchids: An Emphasis on Biotic Interactions
- PhD Student & Postdoctoral Associate
Wuying Lin
- Graduate Student
- MS awarded in 2012; Pew Marine Fellow in 2018
- Research Topic: Comparative reproductive ecology of a rare and endangered orchid and its more common congeners in southwestern China
- Graduate Student
Cara Cooper
- Graduate Student
- MS awarded in 2012
- Research Topic: Seed bank dynamics of an invasive grass in southern Florida
- Graduate Student
Mario Cisneros
- Graduate Student
- MS (incomplete)
- Research Topic: Population status of Trichocentrum undulatum, a highly threatened orchid in the Everglades National Park
- Graduate Student
Melissa Abdo
Dr. Abo is currently the Sun Coast Regional Director, National Parks Conservation Association. She was a PhD student and postdoc in the lab from 2012-2020. Her dissertation is titled "A floristic study of Halmahera, Indonesia focusing on palms (Arecaeae) and their seed dispersal”. As a postdoctoral associate with the lab, she focused on palms of the Island of Halmahera, Indonesia and their seed dispersal by the hornbills.
Adrian Figueroa
Dr. Figuroa was a PhD student who studied the interaction between gopher tortoise and plants. His dissertation is titled “Seasonal differences in diet specialization, frugivory, and seed dispersal in a subtropical population of gopher tortoise”.
Sandy Koi
Dr. Koi was a PhD student who studied how citizen science contributed to the conservation of at-risk insects in South Florida. Her dissertation is titled “The role of citizen science engagement in the recovery of the imperiled Atala butterfly (Eumaeus Atala) in South Florida”.