Esteban Ramirez Chueca
Postdoctoral Fellow
I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard University Herbaria (Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology), in collaboration with the Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard (RCC). My research focuses on the taxonomy, systematics, and biogeography of halophytes—plants that have evolved to thrive in some of the most extreme environments on Earth, from coastal salt marshes to inland saline basins. By integrating phylogenetic, ecological, and vegetation data, I analyze the structure, diversity, and dynamics of plant communities across saline and arid ecosystems from local to global scales. Working with Professor Charles Davis, I combine herbarium, genomic, and field evidence to examine the diversification and ecological resilience of halophytic floras, linking evolutionary history with contemporary patterns of plant distribution. Through ecological modeling, my work also explores how future climate and sea-level rise scenarios may reshape coastal and inland vegetation, contributing to a broader understanding of biodiversity change and plant adaptation in extreme environments. |