Curriculum Vitae University of California, Irvine

Dept. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

321 Steinhaus Hall, Irvine CA 92697
Wilnelia Recart wrecartg@uci.edu

EDUCATION
2013 present Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) | GPA: 4.00/4.00
Research: Effects of drought and invasive plants on pollinator mediated
selection to native plants
Advisor: Diane R. Campbell, Ph.D.
2006 2011 B.Sc. Integrative Biology and a minor in Environmental Sciences
University of Puerto Rico, Ro Piedras (UPR Ro Piedras) | GPA: 3.55/4.00
Undergraduate research: Apparent competition between an invasive and a
native orchid mediated by a native specialist florivorous weevil
Undergraduate advisor: James D. Ackerman, Ph.D.

AWARDS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS

2015, 2016 Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) Graduate Student Fellowship
2015 Botanical Society of America Graduate Student Research Award
Since 2013 National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowships Program
Since 2013 UC Irvine, Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship
2013 UC Irvine, Graduate Deans Recruitment Fellowship
August 2013 Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting travel scholarship from
SEEDS (Student Educators for Environmental Development and Sustainability)
in collaboration with Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of
Success in Earth System Science (MS PHDS)
2012 2014 MS PHDS Mentoring Program Cohort IX
February 2011 Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Annual
Meeting travel scholarship
August 2010 ESA Annual Meeting SEEDS travel scholarship
2010 USDA Faculty and Student Teams (FaST) Program
2009 2010 Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) Fellowship
2008 2010 National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant

RESEARCH EXPERIENCES
Since 2015 Graduate researcher, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL)
Research: Effects of the invasive plant species Linaria vulgaris on pollinator
mediated selection of the native plant, Penstemon strictus.
Advisor: Diane R. Campbell, Ph.D.
Since 2013 Graduate researcher, Dept. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine
Research: Effects of the invasive plant species Brassica nigra and changes to
water availability on the pollinator mediated selection of native Phacelia parryi.

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 Advisor: Diane R. Campbell, Ph.D.
Summer, 2014 Research assistant, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL)
Research: Ecological speciation and hybrid zones of two Ipomopsis species.
Investigator: Diane R. Campbell, Ph.D.
2010 2013 Research assistant, Center for Advanced Tropical Ecology and
Conservation, UPR Ro Piedras
Tasks: Worked in several projects related to invasive species in the tropics
some of the species include Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis, Arundina graminifolia,
Dendrobium crumenatum and Spathoglottis plicata.
Investigator: James D. Ackerman, Ph.D.
Summer, 2011 Undergraduate researcher, Research Experience for Undergraduates
(REU) of the Center for Research on Invasive Species and Small Populations of
the University of Idaho
Research: Conducted invasive species assessments to biological controls.
Advisor: Mark Schwarzlnder, Ph.D.
2010 2011 Research assistant, Department of Biology, UPR Ro Piedras
Research: Worked with extractions and purification of DNA material for the
TRFLP technique in order to profile benthic biofilms exposed to different
nutrient treatments.
Investigator: Sofa Burgos, Ph.D.
Summer, 2010 Undergraduate researcher, USDA FaST Program, University of Hawaii
Research: Developing species distribution models for Iguana iguana and
Arundina graminifolia.
Mentors: Curt Daehler, Ph.D. and James D. Ackerman, Ph.D.
2009 2010 Undergraduate researcher, UMEB Program at UPR Ro Piedras
Research: Apparent competition between an invasive and a native orchid.
Advisor: James D. Ackerman, Ph.D.
2008 Research assistant, Department of Biology, UPR Ro Piedras
Tasks: Worked banding and measuring birds in Cabo Rojo, PR and at the
Gunica Dry Forest Reserve in Puerto Rico.
Investigator: William Beltrn, Ph.D.

PUBLICATIONS
Falcn W, JD Ackerman, W Recart, and C Daehler. 2013. Biology and Impacts of Pacific Island
Invasive Species. X. Iguana iguana, the green iguana (Squamata: Iguanidae). Pacific Science.
DOI: dx.doi.org/10.2984/67.2.2
Recart W, JD Ackerman and AA Cuevas. 2013. There goes the neighborhood: apparent
competition between invasive and native orchids mediated by a specialist florivorous weevil.
Biological Invasions. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-012-0283-0
Ackerman JD, W Falcn and W Recart. 2011. New Records of Naturalized Orchids for the
Hawaiian Islands. Records of the Hawaiian Biological Survey, Occasional Papers 110:1-4

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ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS
*OP=oral presentation | PP=poster presentation
Recart W, D Campbell. 2016. Translating pollen receipt into seeds produced: effects of water
availability on female reproductive success. 101th ESA Annual Meeting. Florida, USA. (PP)
Recart W. 2015. Translating pollen receipt into seeds produced: effects of water availability on
female reproductive success. Winter Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Student
Symposium. UC Irvine, California, USA. (OP)
Recart W, JD Ackerman, W Falcn and P Hernndez. 2014. Here and there and everywhere:
the invasion experience differs among islands for the bamboo orchid. National Science
Foundation, Washington, D.C., USA (PP)
Recart W, JD Ackerman, W Falcn and P Hernndez. 2014. Here and there and everywhere:
the invasion experience differs among islands for the bamboo orchid. 99th ESA Annual
Meeting. California, USA. (PP)
Recart W, JD Ackerman, W Falcn, J Lazcano. 2013. Using species distribution modeling to
understand the spread of the naturalized Honduran pine in Puerto Rico. 98th ESA Annual
Meeting. Minnesota, USA. (PP)
Recart W, AA Cuevas and JD Ackerman. 2011. There goes the neighborhood: apparent
competition between invasive, and native orchids. 96th ESA Annual Meeting. Texas, USA.
(OP)
Falcn W, JD Ackerman, W Recart, and PJ Hernndez-Garca. 2011. Hawaii and Puerto Rico:
A story of shared orchid weeds. Hawaii Conservation Conference. Hawaii, USA. (OP)
Recart W, M Schwarzlnder, M Haverhals, A Weed, M Bennett and B Harmon. 2011. Can
Chondrilla juncea resist biocontrol? The race between plant genotypes and rusts strains.
CRISSP Summer 2011 REU Presentations. Idaho, USA. (OP)
Recart W, JD Ackerman, W Falcn and P Hernndez. 2011. Conquering the islands one fruit
at a time: Arundina graminifolia (Orchidaceae) visits Puerto Rico and Hawaii. 30th Puerto Rico
Interdisciplinary Scientific Meeting. Bayamn, Puerto Rico. (OP)
Falcn, W, W Recart, and JD Ackerman. 2011. Invasive green iguanas (Iguana iguana) on the
march: Vulnerability of tropical islands. Tercer Simposio de Herpetologa Puertorriquea.
Arecibo, Puerto Rico. (PP)
Recart W, S Burgos and A Ramrez. 2011. Exploring the microbial world: assessing benthic
biofilms composition to the response of different nutrient conditions. ASLO Annual Meeting.
San Juan, Puerto Rico. (OP)
Recart W, AA Cuevas and JD Ackerman. 2010. There goes the neighborhood: Reproductive
success of Bletia patula when Spathoglottis plicata moves in. 1er Encuentro de Estudiantes
Investigadores. San Juan, Puerto Rico. (OP)
Recart W, AA Cuevas, JD Ackerman, NP Flores-Saldaa and CM Zambrana-Torrelio. 2010.
There goes the neighborhood: Reproductive success of Bletia patula when Spathoglottis plicata
moves in. 95th ESA Annual Meeting. Pennsylvania, USA. (PP)
Recart W, AA Cuevas, JD Ackerman, NP Flores-Saldaa and CM Zambrana-Torrelio. 2010.
Naturalized exotics affecting native plants in Puerto Rico: The weevils and orchid interaction.
29th Puerto Rico Interdisciplinary Scientific Meeting. Mayagez, Puerto Rico. (OP)

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WORK AND TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2014, 2015 Teaching Assistant for Dept. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine
Courses: Organisms to Ecosystems (BIO 94); Habitats and Organisms
Laboratory (BIO E106L)
2012 Guest lecturer for the "Invasive Species Biology and Management" course at
UPR Ro Piedras. Talk: Introduction to Biological Controls.
2012 2013 Laboratory Technician at the UPR Ro Piedras Herbarium
2008 2009 Laboratory Technician at the UPR Ro Piedras Herbarium
2007 Assistant at the Program of Business Development of UPR Ro Piedras
2006 2007 Math tutor for the Talent Search Program of UPR Ro Piedras

SERVICE
2016 Vice-chair of the Inclusive Ecology Section of the ESA.
Since 2016 Member of EcoFutures, an initiative of the Student Section of the
Ecological Society of America to assess the future challenges and
opportunities within ecology focused careers.
2016 Judge for the Poster Session of the Global Sustainability class of UC
Irvine
2016 Co-developer and co-presenter of the Pest, Plants, and Pollinators
workshop. Presented at the Expand Your Horizons! San Diego
Conference held at the University of San Diego, San Diego, CA. The EYH
Conference is a unique opportunity for girls in grades 6 through 10 to
engage in hands-on workshops in science, technology, engineering and
math (STEM) fields.
2016 Organizer of the Winter Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Student
Symposium of UC Irvine.
2015-2016 Panelist for the Graduate School Informational Workshop of the Rocky
Mountain Biological Laboratory.
2015 Co-organizer of the workshop, Science Speed Dating: Networking for the
Career Ecologist, a networking workshop given to the attendees of the
100th ESA Annual Meeting.
2015 SEEDS Alumnus for the ESA SEEDS Leadership Meeting held in North
End, M.D, USA titled Pollination Science, Communication and Policy.
Helped coordinate the event and mentored participants.
2014, 2015 Panelist for the SOAR STEM Graduate Student Panel of the Student
Outreach and Retention Center of UC Irvine.
2013, 2014, 2015 Developer and presenter of the REU Program Informational Workshop
given to undergraduate students of the UC Irvine.
2014-2015 Founder and co-advisor of the ecoUCI ESA SEEDS Chapter of UC
Irvine.
2014 Mentor for the ESA Annual Meeting SEEDS program. Mentored an
undergraduate student throughout the ESA Annual Meeting.
2014 Presider at the 2014 ESA Annual Meeting. Introduced speakers and
moderated the Pollination I contributed oral session.

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2013 SEEDS Alumnus of the ESA Annual Meeting SEEDS program. Helped
SEEDS ESA Annual Meeting participants throughout the meeting.
Spring 2013 Organizer of the Invasive Species Awareness Week at UPR Ro Piedras.
2013 Interviewed for an episode of the Biologa Boricua podcast, a podcast
created to showcase science in Puerto Rico and research done by Puerto
Rican scientists.
Ad Hoc Reviewer PLOS ONE (1)

UNDERGRADUATE MENTORING
Mentored through UC Irvine research credits: Kei Lin Chang (2014 2016), Brittany Ottoson
(2015 2016), Christine Park (2015), Azam Saghaeidehkordi (2015), Jessica Miller (2015)
Sarah Yvette Valles (2014, mentored through SACNAS UC Irvine Chapter)
Tiffany Carey (2014, mentored through the SEEDS ESA Meeting Mentoring Program)

EDUCATION: RELATED COURSES, WORKSHOPS AND TRAINING

Botany, Zoology, Plant Taxonomy, Ecology, Evolution, Statistics, Genetics, Ethnobotany,
Geophysics, Introduction to GIS, Geography, Sampling Techniques in Environmental
Sciences, Ecological Economics and Photography.
April, 2015 Current Issues in Statistical Ecology Graduate Workshop
Provided by the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis
(NIMBioS) and the Ecological Society of America
October, 2011 Tropical Lichenology Workshop: Micro and Macro Lichens of Puerto Rico
(Part of the Neotropical epiphytic microlichens) by Robert Lucking, Ph.D.
Provided by the UPR Ro Piedras
June, 2011 1st Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Plant Conservation Workshop
Provided by the USDA Forest Service in collaboration with Fundacin Puertorriquea
de Conservacin, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Kew Botanical Gardens,
and the UPR Mayagez
April, 2010 Advanced geospatial training program in natural resource management and
conservation by Humberto Perotto-Baldivieso, Ph.D.
Provided by the Texas A&M University

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Association for the Advancement of Science Since 2015
Ecological Society of America Since 2009
Botanical Society of America 2013 2015
Society for the Study of Evolution 2013 2015

LANGUAGES
Fluent in Spanish and English.

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