About
I started my research career in Brazil, a country that has my heart. I have an undergraduate degree on Biological Sciences through the Universidade Federal de São Carlos campus Sorocaba. While an undergrad, I was introduced to scientific research where we developed a couple of nanosensors with medical applications (1,2). Then, I decided to switch fields to focus my career on conservation biology. I had the opportunity to collaborate with landscape ecologists on a study on how different land planning scenarios could impact the conservation of key ecosystems on maintaining functional landscapes (3). Later, I was an intern at the MBM and IAC herbaria, where I had hands-on experience on how to collect, properly store, and identify plants. On the last years of my undergraduate course, I had the opportunity to do an internship at the Angatuba Ecological Station, a protected area in Brazil. There, I started to be aware of the impacts of plant invasion. This protected area holds an ecotone of Cerrado savanna and Atlantic semi-deciduous forest, which provides unique associated biodiversity (4). The Cerrado is, however, extremely threaded by the invasion of slash pine, introduced in the region for timber production decades ago. Motivated to understand better invasion processes and provide managers with meaningful recommendations, my research career has been focused on biological invasions since then.
I continued in academia by pursuing a Master's degree in Plant Biodiversity and Environment (minor in Vascular Plants) under Dr. Eduardo Pereira Cabral Gomes supervisor. During my Master's, we investigated whether distance to a botanical garden could be a surrogate for plant invasion in a rainforest remnant and defined management priorities for this protected area (5). In my Ph.D., I investigated whether temperate forests can be resistant to invasive plant species, by understanding how forests are structured when invaded. My broad interests rely on investigating plant community ecology principles and how this knowledge can be applied to the management of invaded ecosystems (6, 10, 12). I am now a postdoc at Sullivan's Lab at Michigan State University, where I plan to focus on the role of seed production and dispersal for plant community dynamics using data from DRAGNet and LTER networks. And you can find the complete list of my publications below:
Peer-Reviewed:
12. Petri, L., Ibañez, I. 2023. “Assessing the mechanisms and impacts of shrub invasion in forests: A meta-analysis”. Journal of Applied Ecology, 00, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14496
11. Beaury, E. M., Sofaer, H. R., Early, R., Pearse, I. S., Blumenthal, D. M., Corbin, J. D., Diez, J., Dukes, J. S., Barnett, D. T., Ibáñez, I., Petri, L., Vilà, M., & Bradley, B. A. 2023. “Macroscale analyses suggest invasive plant impacts depend more on the composition of invading plants than on environmental context”. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13749
10. Ibáñez, I., Petri, L., Barnett, D., Beaury, E., Blumenthal, D., Corbin, J., Diez, J., Dukes, J., Early, R., Pearse, I., Sorte, C., Vilà, M., Bradley, B. 2023. "Combining local, landscape, and regional geographies to assess plant community vulnerability to invasion impact" Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2821.
9. Petri, L., Beaury, Evelyn M., Corbin, Jeffrey, Peach, Kristen, Sofaer, Helen, Pearse, Ian S., Early, Regan, et al. 2023. “ SPCIS: Standardized Plant Community with Introduced Status Database.” Ecology e3947. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3947
8. Nagy, R. C., [...], Petri, L., et al.. 2021. Harnessing the NEON data revolution to advance open environmental science with a diverse and data-capable community. Ecosphere 12(12):e03833. 10.1002/ecs2.3833
7. Gill, N. S., Mahood, A. L., Meier, C. L., Muthukrishnan, R., Nagy, R. C., Stricker, E., Duffy, K. A., Petri, L., and Morisette, J. T.. (2021). Six central questions about biological invasions to which NEON data science is poised to contribute. Ecosphere 12(9):e03728. 10.1002/ecs2.3728
6. Ibáñez, I., Liu, G., Petri, L., Schaffer-Morrison, S., & Schueller, S. (2021). Assessing vulnerability and resistance to plant invasions: A native community perspective. Invasive Plant Science and Management, 14(2), 64-74. doi:10.1017/inp.2021.15
5. L Petri, S Aragaki, E P C Gomes (2018). Management priorities for exotic plants in an urban Atlantic Forest reserve. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0102-33062017abb0317
4. K de Mello, L Petri, E C Leite, R H Toppa (2014). Environmental scenarios for land planning of permanent preservation areas in Sorocaba, SP. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-67622014000200011
3. L Petri, B H S Prado, A Z Antunes, B C Oliveira (2013). King Vulture Sarcoramphus papa (Linnaeus, 1758) (Aves, Cathartidae) nesting in a manmade structure. Biota Neotropica. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032013000200040
2. M L Moraes, L Petri, V Oliveira, C A Olivati, M C F de Oliveira, F V Paulovich, O N F Oliveira, M Ferreira (2012). Detection of glucose and triglycerides using information visualization methods to process impedance spectroscopy data. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2012.02.046
1. L Petri, M Ferreira, M L Moraes (2011). Toward Preserving the Structure of the Antigenic Peptide p17-1 from the HIV-1 p17 Protein in Nanostructured Films. https://doi.org/10.1166/jnn.2011.4216
Educational:
2. L Petri, B H S Prado. Biodiversidade em quadrinhos: nem tudo é o que parece ser (2016). 3rd volume. (Environmental Education Resource) ISBN: 978-85-64808-12-6
1. B H S Prado, L Petri, F O Garcia (2015). Management Plan of Angatuba Ecological Station: executive summary. ISBN: 978-85-8191-044-0
In my spare time, I love to hang out with my cats, play Capoeira, hike and do some gardening
