Judith X Becerra

Judith X Becerra

Associate Research Scientist, Biosphere 2
Associate Research Professor
Associate Professor, Entomology / Insect Science - GIDP
Associate Research Scientist, BIO5 Institute
Member of the General Faculty
Member of the Graduate Faculty
Primary Department
Department Affiliations
Contact
(520) 621-9397

Research Interest

Judith Becerra, PhD, is an evolutionary ecologist interested in insect-plant interactions. Her current research combines ecological, biogeographycal, and chemical information with molecular phylogenetics to identify macroevolutionary patterns of host shifts, co-adaptive forces shaping coevolution and evolutionary strategies of plant chemical defenses. She is also interested in plant and insect diversification and ecological chemical interactions between insects and plants. Extensive research has been pursued in the Mexican tropical dry forests with the plant genus Bursera and their herbivores, the beetle genus Blepharida. These two groups have interacted for the last 100 million years and are both highly diverse, with spectacular adaptations and counteradaptations.

Publications

Becerra, J., & Venable, D. (2011). Nuclear ribosomal, DNA phylogeny and its implications for evolutionary trends in Mexican Bursera (Burseraceae). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 86(7), 1047-1057.
Becerra, J., & Venable, D. (2012). Macroevolution of insect-plant associations: The relevance of host biogeography to host affiliation. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 96(22), 12626-12631.
Becerra, J. X., Noge, K., Olivier, S., & Venable, D. L. (2012). The monophyly of Bursera and its impact for divergence times of Burseraceae. TAXON, 61(2), 333-343.
Becerra, J. X., Venable, G. X., & Saeidi, V. (2015). Erratum to Wolbachia-Free Heteropterans Do Not Produce Defensive Chemicals or Alarm Pheromones (vol 41, pg 593, 2015). JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ECOLOGY, 41(9), 869-869.
Becerra, J. X., & Noge, K. (2010). THE MEXICAN ROOTS OF THE INDIAN LAVENDER TREE. ACTA BOTANICA MEXICANA, 91, 27-36.