Dr. Mary Kalin Arroyo

Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile
Research:
My main research area is plant reproductive biology, specifically, the evolution of breeding systems and pollination systems in alpine ecosystems and alpine genera. Earlier I showed that breeding systems are not necessarily closely linked to pollinator availability at the community level, and that although pollinators become increasingly scarce at higher elevation, pollination probability does not decline in the high Andes as a result of increased flower longevity. My students and I are currently working on the relationship between pollinator availability, breeding systems, floral morphology and genetic selfing rates in high Andean plant species, and on evolutionary patterns in floral morphology and breeding systems in a phylogenetic context using the South American genus Chaetanthera as a model. My work relies heavily on field work complemented with laboratory approaches. My second research interest is in plant biogeography. I am currently working on latitudinal distribution patterns of the entire high elevation (above tree line) flora of the South American Andes, using the latter as a model to sort out hypotheses on latitudinal species gradients. My third research interest is in conservation biology. We are currently working on the floras of 16 state protected areas in Chile in order to assess their conservation value. This work was stimulated by the designation of central Chile as a "Biodiversity Hotspot for Conservation Priority" based on work initially carried out by our research group and supported by my Chilean Endowed Presidential Chair.

Education:
University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, B.Sc. with First Class Honours, 1967.
University of California, Berkeley, Ph.D. in Botany, 1971.
Postdoctoral, residence in New York Botanical Garden, 1971-1972.

Honors and prizes:
National Natural Sciences Award, 2010
Fellow, World Technology Network, 2006.
Volvo Environmental Prize, 2005.
BBVA Prize in Conservation Biology Research, 2004.
Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), 2004.
Chilean Academy of Sciences, 2003.
US National Academy of Sciences, 1999.
Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 1998.
Rector's Medal, U. Chile, 1998.
Endowed Chilean Presidential Science Chair, 1997-99.
"Amanda Labarca" Merit Condecoration, 1996.
Corresponding Member of the Botanical Society of America, 1995.
Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, 1989.
John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, 1984.
Angel Faivovich Cultural Foundation Prize, 1982.
Percival Memorial Prize in Botany, University of Canterbury, 1966

For more information on Mary Kalin Arroyo, please see the IEB weblink: http://www.ieb-chile.cl/index.php/main/seccion/120