Patricia is an Ecuadorian researcher who came to Galapagos in 1996 to work on her PhD thesis about the “human impact on native, endemic and introduced flora on the Galapagos Islands” and since August of 1998, she became part of the CDRS staff as curator of the CDS herbarium and working for the Threatened Species Conservation Project. She is a specialist in Ecology and Conservation Biology, and has developed numerous projects of Applied Research on: threatened flora species, plant-animal interactions and ecological restoration.

She was a botany professor at the Central University of Ecuador (Galapagos headquarters). She is currently a Senior Researcher and the leader of the “Galapagos Verde 2050: Restoration of Degraded Ecosystems and Sustainable Agricultural Practices” project. Also, Patricia is the Principal Curator of the CDS Herbarium of the Natural History Collections  at the CDRS..

She has been a member of the Galapagos’ Plants Specialists Group from the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission (SSC). She has a wide collaboration network that includes Wisconsin University, University of Málaga, Hendrix College, University of Cambridge, and several Botanic Gardens around the world.

She has received the Scientific Merit medal, awarded by the Autonomous Municipal Government of Santa Cruz, as well as several scholarships and grants for research from national and international organizations such as: California Academy of Sciences (CAS), University of Cambridge, Tropical Studies Organization, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Galapagos Conservation Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens - Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden, University of Málaga and Erasmus Mundus.