Claudia Nuñez-Penichet, Ph.D.

Claudia Nuñez-Penichet is a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech. Prior to this, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, where she also earned her doctoral degree. She received both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Havana, Cuba. Her research includes a broad spectrum of inquiries into biodiversity patterns and their implications in the context of a rapidly evolving world. Her core areas of expertise focus on the study of distributional ecology, dispersal ecology and migration, invasive species, and insect conservation.

Dr. Nuñez-Penichet’s current work focuses on identifying areas in the State of Virginia that are susceptible to the invasion of fleshy-fruiting plants and their native and invasive dispersers, using modeling and simulation techniques. More broadly, she is dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in research, teaching, and service. She advocates for science communication and advancing DEI in STEM disciplines at various educational levels and from diverse perspectives, aiming to educate and engage scientists, the broader community, and policymakers.