Biography

Maria Cristina Duarte, graduated in Biology and PhD in Agronomic Engineering in University of Lisbon, is currently a researcher at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon. From 1989 to 2015, she was researcher at the Tropical Research Institute (Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Lisbon) and, from 2008 to 2015, Director of the Tropical Botanic Garden. At the moment, she is a Member of the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c) - research group Natural History and Systematics (NHS). She is member of the “IUCN/SSC Crop Wild Relative Specialist Group (CWRSG)”, since 2013, and of the “Beta Working Group of the European Cooperative Programme for Crop Genetic Resources (ECPGR)”, since 2014. From 2004 to 2013, she was the representative of Portugal to the “ECPGR Wild Species Conservation in Genetic Reserves Working Group”.
The focus of her research is based on plant conservation, systematics and evolution. She is involved in flora research and currently she works on several topics: systematics, origin, diversification, and evolution of endemic plants, especially in insular ecosystems; taxonomic studies on the flora of tropical regions, Macaronesia and Mediterranean region; conservation of plant diversity, including assessment of the conservation status of species according to IUCN criteria and categories; ethnobotany, specially medicinal and neglected/underutilized plant species; sustainable use of plant genetic resources and in situ conservation of Crop Wild Relative; impact and biology of invasive plants and risk assessment of exotic species; vegetation ecology, conservation of plant communities; history of botanical explorations; and conservation and valorization of natural history collections.