Senior Research Associate, Growth Facilities
Do you wonder how plants can remain outside under all environmental conditions and thrive? Did you ever contemplate the stark difference in plants’ life compared to animals who can take shelter when the conditions (e.g. weather) become unbearable? These are the questions that keep Vera Velasco in the research greenhouse and lab occupied for a good deal of her time.
Vera joined UTM in 2017 as a postdoc and is currently UTM growth facilities’ in-house plant physiologist. In her role, Vera facilitates and supports plant-related research within the UTM community. Her work includes investigating how plants acclimate to abiotic stressors, for example drought, heatwave and nutrient deficiency. She examines plant morphological, biochemical and molecular traits in her quest to understand how plants will respond to future climate.
Vera loves the seas and has cruised in 5 out of the “seven seas.” She started exploring Ontario’s natural bodies of water this year and aims to have experienced most of them before she retires.
See Vera’s profile at the UTM Growth Facilities website for a more complete bio.
- Email: vera.velasco@utoronto.ca
- Phone: 905-569-4394
- Location: 1695 Outer Circle Road (northwest corner of Parking Lot 9)