Laura Benitez Bosco

I have a BSc in Conservation Biology (Universidade Federal de São Carlos) and an MSc in Plant Biodiversity (Instituto de Botânica de São Paulo, Brazil), where I conducted flora, pollinator, and melissopalinological studies. I have practical experience in project management in non-profit organizations both in Brazil and São Tomé and Príncipe.

From 2017-2022, I established a botanical research program and led extensive fieldwork on the islands of Príncipe and São Tome, aiming, amongst other objectives, to create a baseline scientific knowledge of the flora of Príncipe to implement forest conservation and management actions. By 2022 my work, in partnership with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the University of Coimbra, resulted in more than 20,000 occurrences, increased by more than 20% of all georeferenced records ever collected for the country, revealed at least 20 new species of plants (publication in prep.), and created a database allowing the comparison of the diversity and endemism of the floras of São Tome, Príncipe, and Annobón.

For my Ph.D., I will be exploring the biogeography and phylogeny of the plants of the Gulf of Guinea. I am mostly interested in understanding the processes involved in shaping the composition of the flora between the continent and the oceanic islands.