Artwork by  Maria Sibylla Merian

Welcome! My name is Irina and I am a scientist fascinated by biodiversity. My main interest is understanding how ecological and evolutionary processes affect the structure of biological communities. More specifically, I want to investigate how species-rich communities assemble and disassemble, focusing on the interface of ecology and evolution. For that, I combine empirical and theoretical approaches, such as mathematical models, tools from network theory, and isotope analysis.

I am currently a PhD Candidate in Yeakel's lab at University of California. Previously, I was a Master student in Guimarães' lab at University of São Paulo.