People

Dr. Eleinis Ávila-Lovera

Principal Investigator

Eleinis is a Biologist from Venezuela interested in the ecophysiology of plants from seasonally dry ecosystems and teh role of stem photosynthesis in drought tolerance. Eleinis obtained her Ph.D. in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology from the University of California, Riverside, and held two postdoc positions before joining the University of Utah as an Assistant Professor. See full CV here. Eleinis is also the co-founder and one of the coordinators of the Red Latinoamericana de Ecofisiología Vegetal (link).

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​Dr. Oranys Marín

Postdoctoral Researcher

Oranys is a Biologist with a Ph.D. in Botany Science from Venezuela, specializing in Plant Physiological Ecology. His research focuses on understanding plant responses to environmental stress conditions. He has investigated how factors such as elevated CO2, water deficit, temperature, and flooding influence plant growth and development. Specifically, he studies the physiological and metabolic regulation of stressed plants. Currently,  Oranys is working with desert plants that have green/photosynthetic stems, studying how changes in non-structural carbohydrates contribute to promoting drought resistance in these plants. He is deeply passionate about fieldwork and cherish quality time with his family.

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Osedipo Adegbeyeni

PhD student

Osedipo holds a BSc in Plant Science and Biotechnology from Federal University Oye Ekiti, Nigeria, and joined the lab as a PhD student in Fall 2024. His research involves water status regulation in plants with photosynthetic stems.