Rodrigo León Cordero

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Sciences (2013 – 2015)      
•    University of Guelph  – Guelph, Canada

Pre-doctoral Research Stay, in Ecology and Systematic Botany (2013 – 2014)

•    Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul – Porto Alegre, Brazil                                                                    

Masters of Biological Sciences, Specialized in Ecology and Evolution (2009 – 2011)
•    Brock University  –  St. Catharines, Canada                                                                           
                       
Bachelor of Biology, Major in Ecology (1999 – 2005)
•    Complutense University of Madrid – Madrid, Spain

Diploma of Biology, Major in Ecology, Phycology, Plant Biology and Zoology (2004)
•    Aristotle University of Thessalonica – Thessalonica, Greece

Research

University of Guelph, School of Environmental Sciences (Guelph, Canada)
Researcher with Dr. Madhur Anand (May 2016 – Aug 2016)
Tribal and Individual Perceptions of Ecosystem Value in Natural Forest-Grassland Mosaics of the Western Ghats (India)           

University of Guelph, School of Environmental Sciences (Guelph, Canada)                   
Ph.D. Graduate Research Assistant with Dr. Madhur Anand (2013 – 2015)
Invasion of Landscape Mosaics by Gorse, Ulex europaeus L. Fabaceae: Multi-Scale Analyses of Landscape and Community Structure and Anthropogenic Effects

Brock University, Department of Biological Sciences (St. Catharines, Canada)
MSc. Graduate Research Assistant with Dr. Miriam Richards (2009 – 2011)
Annual Variation in Bee Community Structure in the Context of Disturbance

Research Assistant (2007 – 2008), University of Guelph, Honey Bee Research Centre (Guelph, Canada)

Research Assistant (2006 – 2007), University of Guelph, Department of Integrative Biology (Guelph, Canada)                                                                              

National Museum of Natural Sciences (Madrid, Spain)
Internship (2005 – 2006)
Phylogenetic Analysis and Taxonomy of Iberian Coleoptera

Complutense University of Madrid, Museum of Zoology (Madrid, Spain)                       
Museum Collections Assistant (2004 – 2005)

Publications

León Cordero, R., Piccin Torchelsen, F., Overbeck, G.E. and Anand, M. (2016). Cytisus scoparius (Fam. Fabaceae) in southern Brazil – first step of an invasion process? Anais da Academia Brasileira das Ciências. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201620140532

León Cordero, R., Piccin Torchelsen, F., Overbeck, G.E. and Anand, M. (2016). Invasive gorse (Ulex europaeus, Fabaceae) changes plant community structure in subtropical forest-grassland mosaics of southern Brazil. Biological Invasions. DOI:10.1007/s10530-016-1106-5.

León Cordero, R., Piccin Torchelsen, F., Overbeck, G.E. and Anand, M. (2016). Analyzing the landscape characteristics promoting the establishment and spread of gorse (Ulex europaeus) along roadsides. Ecosphere. DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1201.

León Cordero, R., Das, A., Joshi, A., Overbeck, G.E. and Anand, M. (submitted). Biogeographic, taxonomic and functional diversity of endangered subtropical forest-grassland mosaics of Brazil and India. Journal of Biogeography.

León Cordero, R., Prasad, A., Overbeck, G.E. and Anand, M. (in prep.). The importance of the conservation of convergent biodiversity in endangered forest-grassland mosaics. Conservation Biology.

León Cordero, R. (2015). The invasion of forest-grassland mosaics by gorse, Ulex europaeus L. Fabaceae: multi-scale analyses of landscape, community structure and Anthropogenic Effects. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Guelph.  

León Cordero, R. (2012). Annual variation in bee community structure in the context of disturbance (Niagara Region, South-Western Ontario). MSc. Thesis. Brock University.

León Cordero, R. (2010). Indigenous people and sustainability. Sustainability and the Environment. Department of Geography. Brock University. St. Catharines, Canada.

León Cordero, R., López Cantalapiedra J. y Rodríguez Rodríguez, J.J. (2005). Guía Entomológica Real Jardín Botánico Alfonso XIII UCM. Departament ofo de Zoología y Antropología Física. Facultad de Biología. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Madrid, Spain.

Awards

Arthur D. Latornell Graduate Research Travel Grant (2013)

       •    Arthur D. Latornell Endowment Fund

Richard and Sophia Hungerford Graduate Scholarship  (2013)

•    Ontario Student Opportunity Trust Funds Awards

Dean of Graduate Studies Spring Research Fellowship (2011)

       •    Brock University

Ontario Paper Thorold Foundation Graduate Awards (2010)

      •    Ontario Paper Thorold Foundation

Canada – La Caixa Scholarship (2006 – 2008)

      •    International Council for Canadian Studies

Socrates – Erasmus Programme for the Exchange of European Students (2004)

       •    European Commission – European Union

Research Area

With a genuine enthusiasm for nature, Rodrigo has focused on learning and observing the functioning and structure of ecological systems and searched for the relationship between plant and animal communities. He has studied at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, where he did his bachelor, spent a academic stay at the Aristotle University of Thessalonica, prior to his move to Canada. In here, he completed his MSc. in Zoology and Evolution at Brock University and he just recently completed his PhD studies at the University of Guelph. At this institution, thanks to Dr. Madhur Anand, he has enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with international professors and post-docs, conduct research and explore new aspects of forest-grassland mosaics. Recently, Rodrigo has successfully completed a research stay at the Universidade Federal de Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where he had the opportunity to collaborate with the team of Dr. Gerhard Overbeck and investigate ecological dynamics of invasive taxa in species-rich complex ecosystems.