Elena Diaz-Verson Amos Eminent Scholar in Latin American Studies

Álvaro J. Pérez - Spring 2021

Professor Álvaro J. Pérez from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador in Quito is CSU's 18th annual Elena Diaz Verson Amos Eminent Scholar in Latin American Studies.

Professor Pérez is a previous Amos scholar (Spring 2016), and we are happy to welcome him back!

He received his master’s degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. At PUCE, Professor Pérez serves as the curator of Angiosperms (flowering plants) in the university's well-known herbarium (QCA) and teaches Botany. He has worked closely with CSU's Dr. Kevin Burgess completing research projects on floristic inventories and plant DNA barcoding in the Andean and Amazonian regions of Ecuador. Several CSU graduate students have worked with Professor Pérez who also serves on their thesis committees.

While serving as the Amos Scholar at CSU Professor Pérez will teach classes on Ethnobotany and Tropical Plant Ecology and Evolution. Additionally, he is working on the description of several new plant species for Ecuador and writing proposals for future projects in collaboration with CSU.