Hello, this is Alicia Ledo. Thank you for checking in this blog, and glad to meet you. I am a scientific researcher with an interest on forest ecology, carbon cycle dynamics, and statistical methods to study and model ecosystems. The latter is particularly important not only to understand how the natural world works but also to predict, or at least catch a glimpse, into what will happen in the future.
email: alicialedo@gmail.com
twitter: alicia_ledo
In the past ten years I worked at different universities around the world, where I have learnt many interesting things and I have seen amazing studies. It is a real shame some of that knowledge never breaks out of the university walls. I do believe that the scientific progress and breakthroughs should be part of the common knowledge, free of (and far from!) any copyright. With this blog I want to contribute towards this end, and I will write some articles about some scientific topics, current knowledge, and the results of my studies. Along with some opinion articles, too. My principal aim is to help bridging the gap between the knowledge we have about ecology and ecosystems and citizens (Ecosystem knowledge to the people!). The mechanism behind ecosystem functioning are fantastic and fascinating, more than you might think, and there is still a long way to walk to fully understand what is really going on. Ecology is an amazing balance game.
Now more than ever, we need to improve our understanding on ecosystem functioning. They are more and more threatened by human actions, both direct (chopping down forest, groundwater pollution by an excessive of fertilisers, etc) as well as indirect (increasing the concentration of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, which contribute to accelerate the climate change). Those actions are causing a wobbling on the natural balance, following by an attempt of the Earth to readjust.
About me.. I have stood up from my university’s researcher seat guided by the desire to free some of that knowledge and using it in applied work, and to inform and help designing more eco-friendly management strategies. Along with seeking for solutions that may result in developing ecosystems resilience (this is, systems that can weather what is coming to them better). If you are interested, you can find some extra information on my web alicialedo.com. Said that, I hope I will also keep working on doing research, which is one of my greatest passion in life.
I hope you do enjoy this blog and if you can learn something or it makes you reflect, even better! If only one person learns anything new about how this planet works or increases his/her aware and concern about the environment a tiny bit, the world will have moved a small step forward. The planet is on need of us and we all have more power than we think to help our planet. You have more power than you think.
Ekonowsys – Ecosystem knowledge to the people!
Here you have some photos from places where I have been working:
Tropical montane cloud forest in the Andes, Peru
EKONOWSYS 