Ethnobotany of the Mountain Regions of Brazil

Dr. Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena has a degree in Licentiate and Bachelor in Biological Sciences from the State University of Paraíba (2002), Master's (2005) and Doctorate (2009) in Botany from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE). He completed a Postdoctoral internship (2014-2015) at the Ecosystems Research Institute and Sustainability at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia campus. Between 2009 and 2020 he was a professor and researcher at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). Since December 2020 he has been an associate professor and researcher at the Institute of Biosciences at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS). Currently he is a supervisor of the Master's/Doctorate in Development and Environment Network (PRODEMA) at UFPB on Campus I (João Pessoa) and a permanent professor in the Graduate Programs in Natural Resources at UFMS (master's degree) and in the Graduate Program in Plant Biology at UFMS (master's degree). Furthermore he served as Research Associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis in the United States (2014-2018). He works as a consultant for Capes, Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel in the Environmental Sciences Area and Advisor to the Rector of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul. He is a Director of Agrotec: bioeconomy in agribusiness, Embrapii unit of UFMS. He is interested in researching on topics: climate change, management and domestication of genetic resources, evolutionary ethnobiology, bioeconomics, and use and conservation of biodiversity in Brazilian biomes.

Dr. Denise Dias da Cruz has a degree in Licentiate and Bachelor in Biological Sciences (2000) from the State University of Rio de Janeiro, Masters (2003) and Doctorate (2007) in Ecology from the State University of Rio de Janeiro. She completed a postdoctoral internship at the Department of Botany at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Currently she is Associate Professor at the Department of Systematics and Ecology at the Federal University of Paraíba, teaching courses in the field of Ecology at undergraduate and graduate levels (PRODEMA - Regional Graduate Program in Development and Environment/UFPB). She is supervisor of the Master's/Doctorate in the PRODEMA and editor-in-chief of Gaia Scientia. She has experience in Ecology, with an emphasis on Plant Ecology and Ethnobotany, working mainly on the following topics: phenology, reproductive biology, pollination, animal/plant interaction, and more recently, landscape ecology and ecosystem services. Since 2010, she has been developing research in the area of ethnobotany and its relationship with the conservation of plant resources.