José Luis Fernández Alonso facts for kids

José Luis Fernández Alonso (born 1959) is a famous botanist from Spain who also became a citizen of Colombia. A botanist is a scientist who studies plants. José Luis has written many scientific papers about plants since 1987. He is known for his work on plants from tropical areas.

Early Life and Education

José Luis Fernández Alonso was born in 1959 in a town called Encinas de Esgueva in Spain. This town is in the Province of Valladolid.

Studying Biology

He went to the Universidad de Salamanca to study Biology. After that, he worked at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. There, he studied under a famous scientist named Santiago Castroviejo.

His First Plant Studies

In 1985, José Luis finished his first big research project. It was called "Florula of the north west of the Province of Valladolid." A "florula" is like a small book listing all the plants found in a specific area.

Later, in 1993, he earned his doctorate degree. His doctoral research was about a group of plants called "Aragoa" from the family Scrophulariaceae. These plants grow in tropical regions.

Work in Tropical Botany

While working at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, José Luis became very interested in plants from tropical places. He studied old plant collections from countries like Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. This made him want to learn more about the plants in these regions, especially the Scrophulariaceae family.

Moving to Colombia

In 1986, José Luis moved to Colombia. He started working as a botanist there in 1987. He joined a special project called "Flora Project of the Royal Botanical Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada." This project was at the Institute of Natural Sciences at the National University of Colombia.

Teaching and Research

From 1991 to 2009, José Luis was a professor and researcher at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá. He taught new biologists how to identify and classify plants. He also helped them learn about the many different plants found in Colombia.

Managing Plant Collections

From 1996 to 2000, he was in charge of the National Colombian Herbarium. A herbarium is like a library for dried plant specimens. He worked with other universities to help organize and study their plant collections. Many of the plants he collected are now part of these important collections.

Return to Spain

In 2009, José Luis Fernández Alonso became a lead scientist at the CSIC. This is a big research organization in Spain. He returned to the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. There, he continued his work on plant diversity in tropical areas.

References

See also

In Spanish: José Luis Fernández Alonso para niños