My name is Beatriz A. Aguirre. My research interests include plant disease ecology, plant responses to drought, biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning, and plants physiological responses to water stress. I am currently studying the dynamics between plant biodiversity and plant virus (Barley yellow dwarf virus) infection in wild grass hosts in the lab of Alison G. Power at Cornell University. 

I received my B.S. and M.Sc. in Biological Sciences from California State University of Los Angeles in Alexandra (Sasha) Wright’s lab. My Masters work examined the effects of atmospheric drought (Vapor Pressure Deficit VPD) and soil drought on grass communities. I also focused on understanding how increased plant diversity can mitigate the negative effects of drought via facilitative plant-plant interactions.