April 10, 2017

Ecology scholar and international biodiversity expert to speak at SVSU

Saginaw Valley State University will host renowned scholar and preservationist Giselle Tamayo-Castillo for a public lecture Thursday, April 20 at 7 p.m. in the Rhea Miller Recital Hall.

A professor of chemistry at the University of Costa Rica, Tamayo-Castillo will discuss the creation of the National Institute of Biodiversity, its successes and failures, and her personal involvement with this private, not-for-profit organization.  

Also the president of the National Council for Science and Technology, Tamayo-Castillo has published more than 50 articles on biodiversity and, as a scholar, is particularly interested in the ecology of the Central American rainforests. Her research has focused on both natural products that may have therapeutic value as well as complex microbial ecosystems.  

Costa Rica possesses only 4 percent of the world's biodiversity, yet by square mile, is one of the most diverse countries on the planet. Efforts to preserve this biodiversity date back to Costa Rica's earliest days as an independent nation and were strengthened under various administrations in the late twentieth century.  Despite these efforts, by the 1980s, industrial and agricultural expansion had begun to threaten pristine areas.

Tamayo-Castillo received her doctorate in natural sciences from the Technical University of Berlin in Germany and has held numerous leadership positions in national and international academies of science.

The SVSU event is open to the public and free of charge. Tamayo-Castillo is visiting through the Dow Visiting Scholars & Artists program at SVSU, which was established through an endowment from The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation to enrich our region’s cultural and intellectual opportunities.

For more information on Giselle Tamayo-Castillo and her work in academia, please visit http://ucr.academia.edu/GiselleTamayoCastillo.