Leonardo de Melo Versieux
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais
Brazil
Dear Smithsonian Women’s Committee,
I would not be exaggerating if I say that Botany is my life. I should confess that during my last years in college, I enjoyed biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics but these subjects did sound far away from my “plant taxonomy world”. So when I was accepted to be one of the 2002 RTP students, I faced my research topic proposal as a challenge, because in this project I would be asked to use modern techniques in order to better comprehend plant evolution and systematics. Working at the Smithsonian Institution is very different from working in college. Here I was able to access one of the biggest collections of plants, work together with very competent and respected advisors, and be part of a very rich and multidisciplinary program such as the RTP. I had the time and support necessary to dedicate completely to my research topic and also to learn about a lot of different activities that are conducted in the NMNH. My project title was “Study of genetic variation in Musella (Musaceae), a monotypic genus of Southwestern China”.
I worked under the advice of Dr. W. John Kress and Ms. Ida Lopez who were really committed to my learning process and always available to share their knowledge in the taxonomy, evolution and laboratory methodology, especially considering the group of plants in which I am very interested, the Zingiberales order. In this project I utilized data and sampled plants collected by Dr. Kress and Ai Zhong Liu, a post-doctoral fellow who is currently studying the taxonomy of Musaceae family using molecular markers.
This internship allowed me to learn and familiarize myself with the most recent and important tools of systematic Botany in this new century and besides that all the activities offered by the Research Training Program, the tours, lectures, visits to others departments, field trips, the new friends and contacts have opened my horizons to realize how broad is the natural history field. I also studied and photographed all the specimens of bromeliads of my state in Brazil that are deposited here in the U.S. Herbarium. This side project will help me in another research project that I have in mind. I am applying for master’s degree in Brazil, at Universidade Estadual de Campinas, and I included isozyme analyses in my proposal.
The results we found encourage my research team to sample more populations of this plant in China, leading to more details in the Musella’s distribution history and geographical origin. I am really very grateful to the Smithsonian Women’s Committee, for providing me with stipend and housing. Without your financial support I would not be able to come here and learn so much. I am sure that this kind of opportunity will promote understanding and conservation of nature in the future.
Thank you very much!
Leonardo Versieux
Research Training Program, 2002