Dr Adriane Esquivel Muelbert

Adriane Esquivel Muelbert is Head of Group of Global Change Ecology at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.

Biography

Adriane studied Biology at Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil, where she gained her passion for Ecology and Conservation. She continued her studies with MSc in Ecology from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, focusing on the Functional Ecology and Biogeography of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Interested in studying the impacts of global change on tropical systems she moved to the University of Leeds, UK, for her PhD focusing on the Functional and Floristic dynamics of Amazonia. After her PhD she started her group at the University of Birmingham, UK, as part of the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR). She was the inaugural co-director of the University of Birmingham Brazil Institute. Adriane is a Panamanian-Brazilian who grew up in South of Brazil between the sea and the hills covered by the Atlantic Forest and works towards making science welcoming to all.

Previous Positions

2024 to 2025 - Director of the University of Birmingham Brazil Institute (UBBI) - University of Birmingham, England

2023 to 2025 - Associate Professor in Global Forest Ecology - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, England

2020 to  2023 - Lecturer in Global Forest Ecology - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, England

2019 to 2020 - Research Fellow for ERC funded TreeMort project with Dr Thomas Pugh - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, England

2017 to 2018 - Research Fellow for NERC funded TREMOR project with Prof David Galbraith - School of Geography, University of Leeds, England

2017 - Database manager for Forestplots.net with Prof Oliver Phillips- School of Geography, University of Leeds, England

Qualifications

2024 - Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, University of Birmingham, England

2016 - PhD in Ecology and Global Change with project on 'functional and floristic dynamics of Amazonian forests' - University of Leeds, England

2012 - MSc Hons in Ecology - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS, Brazil

2009 - BSc Hons in Biological Sciences - Universidade Federal do Paraná, UFPR, Brazil

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Committees

2022 to present - Member - Science Panel for the Amazon

2022 to present - Biodiversity Research Area Lead - Scientific Steering Committee of AmazonFACE

2020 to 2025 - Member of the organizing committee - International Tree Mortality Network

Media

2025 - 'Increase in tree size across Amazonia', (2025), Nature Plants - has been covered by 129 news outlets globally, including The New Scientist, NBC, Nature and NPR.

2021 - Opinion piece on The Amazon is now a net carbon producer, but there’s still time to reverse the damage - The Guardian.

2021 - Opinion piece on Why we need to save the Amazon - Birmingham Brief.

2019 - 'Climate driven change in the functional composition of Amazonian tree communities', (2019), Global Change Biology - has been covered by over 30 news outlets globally including National Geographic, the main news TV program in Brazilian TV and BioScience. Media coverage included articles in the Netherlands, China, Germany, UK, Brazil, Venezuela and the USA.

Interviews on research-related topics: Nature, the Guardian [1 and 2], Mongabay (article on Gigante project / coverage of Esquivel-Muelbert 2020 / Amazon tipping point), Washington Post, BBC Brazil, BBC Science on Focus Magazine and CNN Brazil.