Amazon Basin Species Found Nowhere Else

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Paola Barriga won a $22,500 Train Fellowship, named after leading conservationist Russell Train, former president of the World Wildlife Fund and administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — While working on her master’s degree in biology, Paola Barriga braved the challenges of torrential rain, menacing snakes and the sometimes hostile Waorani neighbors as she collected specimens in Amazonia, the world's largest tropical rainforest. Spanning more than half of Brazil, the 2.5 million square miles of the Amazon Basin contain a wealth of life richer than anyplace on earth.

Her strength and independence caught the attention of Cindy Sagers, an associate professor of biological sciences in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Sager recommended Barriga for a Russell Train Fellowship from the Education for Nature program sponsored by the World Wildlife Federation.

Barriga began her master’s program at the University of Arkansas this summer, funded by a Train Fellowship worth $22,500. Only one applicant in 10 among the 200 who applied won the fellowships, which support master’s and doctoral students conducting fieldwork and leading conservation efforts around the globe. In addition to covering tuition, books, and travel, the fellowship also supports the cost of room and board for up to two years.

“I was sitting in a cold, damp office in London when I found a copy of Paola’s wonderful manuscript,” Sagers said. “I discovered she is an authority on the endemic plants of Ecuador and had also contributed chapters to 'The Red Book,’ a project by the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador in cooperation with some scientists working in the Missouri Botanical Garden to document those species in Ecuador.”

A few months later, Sagers traveled to Ecuador on a grant funded by the Women's International Science Collaboration. There she was impressed by the field guide who led scientists on a very successful plant collecting trip. It was Paola, and Sagers invited her to the university, where faculty and graduate students warmly welcomed her.

In the months ahead, Barriga will work with Sagers to study the ecology of the Cecropia, an evergreen tree with deeply lobed leaves found from Mexico and the Antilles to Panama and northern South America. They will focus on the highly specialized species that live inside the trees; some are found nowhere else on earth. One species, the stinging Azteca ants that live inside the trees and feed on them, in turn protect the trees from other insects and even sloths and monkeys.

Albuja received her bachelor’s degree from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador in Ecuador.

“She has three siblings, an engineer, a medical doctor, and another beginning her university studies in psychology. All were raised from an early age by a single mother after her father died tragically in a bus accident when she was a young teen. This fellowship represents a phenomenal opportunity for a very deserving student, and I am very pleased that Paola has chosen the University of Arkansas. She will become an important part of my lab as we continue to study the ecology of the genus Cecropia,” said Sagers.