Luciana Alves

Luciana Alves is an Associate Researcher at the Center for Tropical Research within the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES) at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her work focuses on plant ecology in tropical forest systems, with particular emphasis on understanding the biological and environmental drivers of ecological dynamics in these critical ecosystems.

Dr. Alves' research interests span tropical forest structure and carbon dynamics, plant population ecology, and the effects of habitat fragmentation on tree species richness and abundance. Her fieldwork is primarily conducted in Amazon and Atlantic forest sites in Brazil, where she investigates forest regeneration processes and ecological responses to environmental changes.

Her recent publications reveal strong expertise in tropical forest carbon dynamics, tree hydraulic traits, and biodiversity patterns across global forest ecosystems. Her research often examines how climate variability and extreme events impact forest functioning, with particular attention to Amazonian forests. She frequently collaborates with major international research networks studying global forest dynamics.

• 2025-2028: PI for 'Aboveground Carbon Stock Changes in Dynamic Tropical Forests' (NASA CMS Program)
• 2024-2026: Co-PI for 'A Service to Quantify Forest Carbon Stock Changes in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil' (NASA SERVIR Program)
• 2022-2025: Co-PI for 'Intrinsic dimensionality and data fusion to monitor Cape biodiversity' (NASA Biodiversity Program)
• 2018-2023: PI for 'Collaborative Research: Are Amazon forest trees source or sink limited?'

Dr. Alves has established diverse collaborations across universities and research institutions in Brazil and the United States. Her previous positions include senior research scientist roles at the Institute of Botany and Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Brazil, Research Associate at the University of Colorado, Consulting Scientist for NEON, and Post-Doctoral Research Fellow for the NSF PIRE Program at the University of Arizona.