TEACHING AND RESEARCH ON
Forest restoration
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About Me
Christina is interested in how restoration affects biodiversity and insect -- plant interactions in tropical forests. Her current research investigates ant functional traits and secondary seed dispersal in a two-decade old forest restoration experiment in Costa Rica. She also studies how community factors affect forest permanence in El Salvador. Christina is passionate about undergraduate STEM education and mentors students in both the field and in the lab. Before beginning her PhD, Christina worked for ten years in nonprofits focused on ecological restoration, education, and human rights. In the future, she hopes to train students and further conservation efforts in Central America.
Teaching resources
Christina and Francis Joyce (UCSB) created a free and accessible online module through OCELOTS (Online Content for Experiential Learning of Tropical Systems) to teach undergraduate students about seed dispersal in the context of tropical forest restoration. The module has adaptations for both online and in-person classes and engages students through images, videos, a real case study, a dispersal activity, and a scaffolded restoration project. The module is available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
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Christina's senior thesis student, Kiaya Moser (2024), created an illustrated dichotomous key that is meant to be accessible to undergraduate students that are learning to use dichotomous keys. The key helps students to identify neotropical ants to subfamily.​​
Recursos en español
Christina y Francis Joyce crearon un módulo a través de OCELOTS (Contenido Online para el Aprendizaje Experiencial de los Sistemas Tropicales) sobre la dispersión de semillas en el contexto de restauración tropical. El módulo se puede impartir en línea o en persona a estudiantes universitarios. En el curso se utilizan imágenes, videos, un caso de restauración en Costa Rica, actividades y un proyecto final para enseñar a los/las estudiantes de una manera dinámica.
Christina presentó los resultados de un proyecto de restauración en el sur de Costa Rica que ya tiene más de 20 años en conjunción con Karen Holl, Juan Abel Rosales, Federico Oviedo Brenes, Spencer Schubert, Miriam San José, y Rakan Zahawi.