معرفی
Sara Fuentes-Soriano is a College Assistant Professor and Director/Curator of the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Herbarium (NMC/NMCR), housing over 120,000 plant specimens. She leads efforts in plant systematics research, biodiversity informatics, and public engagement. Her role includes managing historical collections, teaching plant science, and providing plant identification services. Fuentes-Soriano holds a B.S. in Biology (UNAM, 1995), M.S. in Electron Microscopy (UNAM, 1997), M.S./Ph.D. in Plant Systematics (University of Missouri, 2002/2010), and postdoctoral fellowships at Prairie View-Texas A&M (2015–2016) and Indiana University (2012–2015).
Her research focuses on plant evolutionary history, genomic diversity, and conservation. Key areas include climate change impacts on desert vegetation, bioprospecting medicinal plants, and improving biodiversity cyberinfrastructure. She emphasizes preserving natural history collections and promoting public access to scientific resources. Recent work includes molecular studies on Physarieae (Brassicaceae), genome analysis of sweetpotato, and taxonomic revisions of endemic species.
Publications highlight contributions to plant systematics, genomic studies, and herbarium management. Her outreach efforts bridge academic research with community education, emphasizing practical applications of botanical science.
