Susy Velásquez-Franco: Uncovering 1,000 Years of San Diego Lake’s History

Susy Velásquez-Franco, ESS Postdoctoral Research Associate and a first generation paleoecologist, is unraveling a 1,000-year story of San Diego Lake. Nestled in the Colombian Andes, the lake has seen ecological disturbance, from climate change, human settlement, and war. Susy collects chunks of sediment to understand what the lake has lived through. Different components can give different clues — charcoal can reflect the fire history, pollen grains can reveal the distribution of surrounding trees and plants, and more.

Susy is also compiling a biodiversity baseline for the San Diego lake basin, and combining all of this with satellite imaging. Her work not only reveals how the landscape has changed, but can be used to help protect its future. Susy's research was recently shared in a Natural History Museum article, titled “Studying the Ecological Disturbance of Lakes in the Colombian Andes.”