Manoela Machado Ph.D.

Research Scientist

I study how human activities interact with climatic variables and alter fire regimes in tropical ecosystems. I mostly focus on the Amazon Forest and the Cerrado biomes, but would love to expand these studies across the tropics.

Through spatial modeling of broad-scale fire drivers and patterns, and working closely with key actors in firefighting, such as policy makers, government and Indigenous groups, I aim to bridge the gaps between data and impact.

Dr. Machado crouches down in front of some shrubs among brown grass, using a scientific instrument to take a measurement of the ground

Dr. Machado stands on a dusty dirt road, operating a drone

While earning a B.Sc. in biological sciences at the University of Sao Paulo, I studied tropical restoration in many parts of the Atlantic forest and visited the Amazon for the first time, falling in love with the magnitude, colors, sounds, and scents of this amazing forest. I completed my Ph.D. in ecology and conservation at the University of Sheffield in the U.K., focusing on the relationships between selective logging and fire risk in the Amazon. I then developed postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford on the assessment of emergency measures to address the fire crisis in the Amazon and on mapping the flammability of the Cerrado using structural and functional data.

I am proud to fight to protect the Amazon in my home country of Brazil and I am motivated to work collaboratively to advance our understanding of fire ecology. I am also a passionate vegan who loves to travel.

“The Amazon forest is the largest rainforest on Earth. It harbors an amazing amount of terrestrial biodiversity and stores huge amounts of carbon—it’s the climate regulation system of the planet. Fire quickly transforms all that biomass and shifts the Amazon’s status from carbon sink to source.”