Posted by Ted Feldpausch
16 May 2024It is with great sadness that we share the loss of Luciana Pereira, a talented Geography PhD student at the University of Exeter, whose research focused on the effects of fire on Amazonian forests. Luciana, who was supervised by Prof. Ted Feldpausch and Dr Luiz Aragao, passed away following her struggle with cancer.
Luciana was a recipient of the prestigious University of Exeter Global Excellence PhD Scholarship, fully funding her PhD studies and research in Amazonia. Her PhD research, ‘Fire effects on Amazonian forests: assessing variation using forest plot field data, isotopes, and SAR L-band data‘ focused on using her field data and remote sensing approaches to understand how forests across the Amazon Basin are degraded by and recover from fire, an important topic as drought, fire, and forest fragmentation negatively affect forests across Amazonia. Her work was also part of the Amazon PyroCarbon Project.
She was a strong and independent researcher, developing expertise in her field of remote sensing using SAR satellite data and leading extensive fieldwork in collaboration with local project partners in remote forests in Acre, Brazil and northern Bolivia. The fieldwork was demanding, and Luciana showed perseverance and commitment to the work. While she faced serious challenges due to COVID lockdowns that interrupted her work and delayed the laboratory analyses of the soil samples she collected from the field, she redeveloped her project and continued to advance her research. Her diagnosis came late in her PhD studies, and despite the advanced stage of her cancer, she had a positive outlook and continued to advance her analyses and dissertation.
Colleagues from South America and the UK have shared their heartfelt experiences and memories in the field with her and her dedication and passion for her research. Luciana will be profoundly missed as a student and a friend, leaving behind a legacy with those whose lives she has touched. The image above, taken in a forest in Amazonia similar to those that Luciana studied, captures a landscape devastated by wildfire, yet one where Heliconia flowers flourish in the understory, showing renewal. Luciana’s memory will inspire us to continue research to restore forests degraded by fire and to train the next generation of tropical ecologists who will follow in her footsteps.