Scientist from the UCM assumes as Director of Communications in a recognized international society

Academic Patricia Silva-Flores was elected with a decisive majority of votes, during the XI Congress of the International Mycorrhiza Society (IMS), held in China.

Patricia Silva-Flores, a researcher from the Catholic University of Maule (UCM), was chosen as Director of Communications, in a world-renowned scientific organization dedicated to the study of the so-called “mycorrhizal symbiosis” or the mutually beneficial relationship between fungi and plants, which has received considerable attention in recent years for its benefits for ecological restoration and sustainable agriculture.

“The nomination arises because in my doctorate I began to work in a very strong line of scientific communication, where we explain very technical scientific findings in simpler language,” said the doctor of Biological Sciences, who will hold the position at the “International Mycorrhiza Society” (IMS), which brings together more than 500 experts on the subject, for the next two years.

“Communicating was always a personal interest. I felt it as a moral duty, because I improved myself thanks to state funding, with scholarships, so the least I could do was give back to the community in some way,” said the also member of the Maule Research Center for Advanced Studies ( CIEAM), belonging to the UCM, and the Secano Interior Development Center (CdSI), on the same campus.

As director of Communications, the academic will be part of the Board of Directors of the IMS, which will also be joined by the environmental biologist of the Santo Tomás University, César Marín. “Our South American mycorrhizal network is now highly present and positioned globally,” Silva-Flores wrote on her Instagram to celebrate the news.

The researcher was elected to the position by a resounding majority of votes, during the eleventh congress of the aforementioned international society, which took place in China in a hybrid mode.

“At each conference, which is held every two years, directors are chosen. My vote was among four applicants from Australia, the Netherlands, Canada and Chile. I was elected with almost 50 percent of the votes of the nearly 300 people who attended the event,” said the scientist, who has become a benchmark for those who investigate the ecology of fungi and their application in the recovery of ecosystems.

“I am particularly interested in a group of fungi called mycorrhizal, which are one of the most important, since they form a relationship with terrestrial plants and make it possible for them to survive, because they provide them with nutrients, confer protection against pathogens and allow them to resist unfavorable abiotic conditions. They are relevant to the evolutionary history of plants,” he added.