Mr Erik Omar Mata Guel 

PhD Biological Sciences

Erik O Mata Guelis a postgraduate research student within Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton.

Erik is a biologist specialised in forest ecology and conservation science both in urban and rural spaces. Prior to his PhD studies, he studied the impact of environmental stressors on urban trees, focusing on heat island effect. He also holds a PGCert in Environmental Economics, focusing on environmental services and the social costs of their loss attributed to land-use change and global warming. Currently, his main interest is the effects of climate change on Tropical Montane Forests and the design of conservation strategies and policies to protect these ecosystems.

Erik is currently working on a global assessment of the state of Tropical Montane Cloud Forests, including their distribution, conservation status and conversion rates. The main focus of his project, however, is to identify and quantify the effects of changing climate patterns on the distribution and displacement of these ecosystems and the consequences in terms of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Previously, he studied the effects of harsh urban environmental conditions on urban trees, through direct measurements of their photosynthetic response to atmospheric variables with particular interest on the urban heat island phenomenon, which causes an increase in temperature and drought stress.

Additionally, he is interested in the design and implementation of policies aiming at the protection and preservation of ecosystems and environmental services. He specialised in Environmental Economics and has investigated the social costs of land-use change on the montane forests around Mexico City, by looking at the resulting loss carbon sequestration and water infiltration.