ECHOLOGIC
Our Planet. Our Opportunity.
UNC PhD students turn challenges of pandemic into opportunities in Galapagos
Meet Esteban Agudo:
Esteban Agudo recently started the 3rd year of his PhD and feels fortunate to be in the Galapagos to conduct his research. He is a marine ecologist pursuing his degree in Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology (EEOB) at UNC Chapel Hill, working alongside UNC Professor John Bruno and USFQ Professor Margarita Brandt.
Esteban’s journey to Galapagos was not straightforward. He was not able to travel to the Galapagos for his first two years of studies due to the pandemic – which for many students would have filled them with stress.
“I’m a bit older than your average graduate student, and I think that has given me valuable perspective. I’m more relaxed than I would have been 10 years ago, and I have chosen to get my PhD because I truly love my work. It is not about grades or finishing fast, but instead gaining experience, learning, and figuring out if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” Esteban reflected.
Esteban’s research is focused on how temperature affects predation in marine systems. How will changes in ocean temperatures impact feeding patterns on different organisms like fish and marine invertebrates, such as whelks and starfish?
Photos Courtesy of National Geographic . ©
Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate is a Steven Chu is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular & Cellular Physiology in the Medical School at Stanford University. He has published over 280 papers in atomic and polymer physics, biophysics, biology, bio-imaging, batteries, and other energy technologies. He holds 15 patents and an additional 9 patent disclosures or filings since 2015.
William D Nordhaus is an American economist, a Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, best known for his work in economic modeling and climate change, and one of the 2 recipients of the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Nordhaus received the prize "for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis"
The UNC Center for Galapagos Studies
Photo Courtesy of Georgia Aquarium . ©
The Galapagos Science Center is our research facility on San Cristobal Island and is the only university science facility of its kind in the Galapagos.
The GSC was created as a joint effort between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and our partner, the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in Ecuador and has become a model of international cooperation in higher education. Based on core values of trust, equality, and mutual respect, the GSC provides the infrastructure to integrate research, education, and outreach through a seamless transition between the classroom, field, and lab.
The goal is to then extend these learnings and promote a better understanding of ecologically sensitive and protected areas worldwide as we seek to understand complex interactions between population, health, and environment in these remarkable islands.
Anne Spring Close the matriarch of the Springs family in South Carolina that was powerful in politics, philanthropy and the community for decades, has died. She was 95.
Photo Courtsey of The Smithsonian
Charles Darwin a creationist when he visited the Galápagos Islands, Darwin grasped the significance of the unique wildlife he found there only after he returned to London.
Photos Courtesy of The New York Times
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