Scientific Staff

Silvia Alvarez-Clare, PhD

Director of the Global Tree Conservation Program

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As director of the Global Tree Conservation Program at The Morton Arboretum, Silvia Alvarez-Clare’s role focuses on safeguarding threatened tree species through science-based conservation work conducted with stakeholders around the world.

Alvarez-Clare’s research focuses on using long-term monitoring, experimentation, and ecological techniques to understand how changes in climate, land use, and soil nutrients impact plant communities, particularly trees. She strives to translate her research into better policies, improved management practices, or restoration actions that will aid in saving tree species from extinction.

Alvarez-Clare also leads the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak, a network established by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) to ensure that no species of oak goes extinct. She also serves as a conservation officer for BGCI.

She is a member of the advisory board for the Global Trees Specialist Group, a voluntary network of more than 300 experts that is part of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

In 2023, Alvarez-Clare spearheaded the creation of the Center for Species Survival: Trees, which was established at The Morton Arboretum through a strategic partnership with IUCN’s Species Survival Commission to serve as a catalyst for tree conservation and accelerate the actions needed to reverse species loss.

Mentoring students and interns is also an important aspect of Alvarez-Clare’s role at the Arboretum. She is a mentor for the National Science Foundation-funded project Rare Plant Network (Rare RaMP), which focuses on training and mentoring post-graduates in plant research and conservation.

Accomplishments

Alvarez-Clare’s research in tropical ecosystems ecology research has been funded by the prestigious National Science Foundation’s Doctoral Dissertation Enhancement Grant (DDEG) and Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). Her research has been published in top-tier professional journals such as Ecology Letters and Ecology.

Before becoming the Arboretum’s director of Global Tree Conservation Program, she worked as its tree conservation ecologist, where she led in situ conservation projects in Latin America. As part of this work, she and collaborators received a National Geographic Explorer Award to study the endangered oak Quercus insignis,and worked with local stakeholders to plant thousands of trees in Costa Rica and Mexico.

She served as the academic mentor for the Arboretum’s Integrated Mentorship Program, and as co-principal investigator in the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program at the Arboretum.

She also served on the advisory board for the PUMA-STEM Alliance, an NSF-funded initiative working to increase the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM careers within the Chicagoland area.

Education

PhD, Interdisciplinary Ecology

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

MS, Botany

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

BS, Biology

Universidad de Costa Rica
San José, Costa Rica

Affiliations

Lead for the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak

Global Tree Conservation Officer for Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Member of the Advisory Committee for the IUCN-SSC Global Trees Specialist Group

Member, American Public Garden Association (APGA)

Member, Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC)

Partner, Center for Plant Conservation (CPC)

Member, International Oak Society (IOS)

Projects (14)