Juan Carlos Valverde
Juan Carlos Valverde configuring sap flow and TDR sensors at the EuCarbHydro study located at the Rucamanqui forest farm in Chile.
Juan Carlos Valverde was born in Cartago, Costa Rica. He pursued his undergraduate studies in Forestry Engineering at the Tecnológico de Costa Rica, where he later obtained a master’s degree in Natural Resources Management. His master’s thesis focused on the physiological characterization of dendroenergy plantations, given his interest in sustainable forestry and renewable energy research.
In January 2021, Juan Carlos started his PhD in Forest Sciences with the Forest Productivity Cooperative at University of Concepción (UdeC) in Chile. His research focused on understanding the relationship between water use and carbon balance of Eucalyptus genotypes. Juan Carlos presented his research at the 26th IUFRO World Congress (June 2024) in Stockholm, Sweden in a presentation titled Phloem carbon-isotope discrimination and carbon balance of Eucalyptus genotypes under contrasting water availability regimes related to the EuCarbHydro project directed by Dr. Rafael Rubilar. The results of this research highlighted the use of isotopes to select genotypes that are better adapted to climate change.
In 2024, he received funding from the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) and the UdeC graduate program to undertake an internship in New Zealand and Australia from August to December 2024. In New Zealand, Juan Carlos visited the University of Canterbury, where he collaborated with Dr. Luis Apiolaza to evaluate the genetic gain in growth and productivity of the genotypes in the EuCarbHydro project. In Australia, he visited the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Tasmania, where he worked with Dr. Philip Smethurst to calibrate the APSIM Next Generation process model using data from the EuCarbHydro studies. This work aimed to develop a predictive tool for assessing plantation productivity under future climate change scenarios.
Juan Carlos is currently in the final stages of writing his doctoral thesis and aims to defend during the first semester of 2025. He is currently preparing his return to Costa Rica, where he will collaborate with the Tecnológico de Costa Rica on research projects involving plantations with tropical species. He is actively seeking new project opportunities focused on adapting forest plantations to climate change. His interests include evaluating the resource use efficiency of different species and genotypes and contributing to the modeling of productive systems under climate change scenarios.
Juan Carlos published several manuscripts from his doctoral studies as the first author in collaboration with the FPC UdeC Team and FPC cooperators. Among these are: Taper and individual tree volume equations of Eucalyptus varieties under contrasting irrigation regimes (https://doi.org/10.33494/nzjfs522022x181x), and Differences in rainfall interception among Eucalyptus genotypes (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-023-02417-1). He collaborated on three other publications, and two more publications from his doctoral thesis will be finished soon.
