Face of the LIB: Karina Lucas da Silva-Brandão

What drives you as a researcher? Why do you dedicate your life to nature?

I have always been interested in the "why" and how nature works: why people have blue or brown eyes, why insects exist and in such large numbers. I always wanted to become a scientist because I wanted to know how processes in nature work and why they change.

What led you to biology? Was there a key experience?

As a schoolgirl, I went fishing with my father. Even back then, I was interested in the diversity of fish. I also wanted to know why some fish are found in some rivers and not in others.

What is a daily highlight of your work, what do you enjoy most?

I enjoy working with people. I love the theoretical discourse about my work. I also enjoy teaching and passing on my knowledge. And I like giving advice.

Why are you particularly fascinated by butterflies?

I only focussed on my current field of research, butterflies, at a late stage. Initially, I was interested in the interaction between plants and this insect species: for example, how butterflies use the chemicals in the plants they eat against their enemies. Today I work on taxonomy with a focus on Lepidoptera in Brazil. In a network together with international scientists, I want to find out how butterflies and plants interact and where the reasons for possible evolutionary changes lie.

Where is your favourite place in nature?

I love the forests of the Atlantic mountain forests in Brazil - where the temperature drops sharply at night and I can see the butterflies flying during the day. Also, very close to my home in Campinas, Sao Paulo, is one of the largest urban forests in Brazil - I usually go for a walk there every day.

How do you explain the concept of biodiversity to children?

First of all, I can show them how beautiful, colourful and "different" nature (including butterflies!) is. And mention that everything in nature is interconnected. Everything that happens to nature in one place on earth has an impact on the lives of people in another place - including economically. The moisture produced in the Amazon rainforest arrives as precipitation in completely different regions of Brazil. This means that if this rain fails to materialise due to deforestation, the whole of Brazil suffers, including the economy.

What do you want people to associate with the LIB in ten years' time?

I would be delighted if the collections were better known by then. The LIB should be a renowned institution for biodiversity research that scientists turn to when they want to do taxonomic work and learn more about the many levels of biodiversity research.

What do you see as the greatest challenge in the field of environmental protection?

I think it's convincing the public of the importance of environmental protection.

What would you have become if biology hadn't worked out?

I would probably have worked in a bank - many of my relatives worked there. But that was never really an option.

What advice do you have for young biologists starting their careers?

As a biologist today, I have to be proficient in many other areas, such as computer programming. In this respect, I recommend that students familiarise themselves with this and also learn how to present themselves and their scientific field to the public.

KARINA L. SILVA-BRANDÃO was born in 1974 in São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil. She obtained a degree in Biological Sciences at the Universidade Estadual Paulista (IBILCE- UNESP), Brazil, in 1996 and an M.Sc. in Ecology at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) in 2000. During this time, she studied the response of the spider Trichonephila clavipes to different types of pyrrolizidine alkaloids found in butterflies after sequestration of the host plant and devoted herself to the field of chemical ecology and interactions between host plant and butterfly. In her doctoral thesis in ecology (2001-2005), also at UNICAMP and with a stay at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR, USA, she focussed on the evolution of host plant use in Troidini butterflies.

Since then, after her parental leave, she has studied the molecular diversity of butterflies and moths of economic interest at different taxonomic levels. Only recently she returned to secondary plant metabolites and investigated transcriptome patterns in a research network. She is currently investigating the adaptive responses of butterflies and moths to their host plants and their environment.