PE&RC in the Spotlight

Every month we put a PE&RC member in the spotlight. This month we are getting to know Ximena Tagle Casapia. Ximena is PhD candidate at Wageningen University in collaboration with WWF, the Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon and University of Leeds. Within the WPC (Wageningen PhD council) she is one of the PE&RC representatives. And new mom, as of this year.  

What are you passionate about in your research?
I am passionate about trees, the way they look in the drone images is just stunning. My PhD is about combining field data with drones and satellite images to map hotspots of palm fruit production. The topic itself is really nice, I enjoy working on it because I work in collaboration with local communities and National Protected areas, and it is nice to see that my research helps them.

What do you currently do to de-stress?
I love swimming and the weather is perfect now.

What are you binging on Netflix?
I’m watching the last season of Lucifer... not as nice as the previous ones though. I’m about to finish the book Sapiens, quite interesting.

If you could be any plant what would you be, and why?
I would choose a Ceiba pentandra (the kapok tree), they adapt to different elevations and tolerate quite some temperature variations, also, they have these amazing flowers that make them easy to identify, even from far. And of course, the tree has multiple uses :).

What have you been cooking lately?
Honestly, I do not enjoy cooking that much, and I only do it because I miss Peruvian food a lot, so last week I made Ají de gallina.