UCR Newsroom

• A to Z Listing
• Campus Map
• Find People

UCR Today: New News, New Look. Go!

RIVERSIDE, Calif.(www.ucr.edu) University of California, Riverside Professor of Botany Arturo Gomez-Pompa has received an honorary degree — Doctor Honoris Causa — from the Universidad Autonoma Del Estado de Morelos, Mexico. The degree honors Gomez-Pompa for his contributions to tropical ecology and conservation.

Gomez-Pompa serves as coordinator of development for the Universidad Veracruzana (UV), Mexico’s Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales (Center of Tropical Research, or CITRO), and is based in Veracruz, where he coordinates an ambitious academic exchange and research program between UC Riverside and UV.

“The Rector of the Autonomous University of Morelos (UAM) made an open consultation to different departments on possible candidates for this honorary degree,” Gomez-Pompa said. “My name was suggested by the biology faculty and approved by the University Council. Several faculty members were students of mine, or students of my students, and knew my work on tropical ecology, ethnobotany and conservation. This is the first honorary degree I have received.”

The most important work at UAM has been the establishment of a new research center of environmental research and education (known as CEAMISH), housed on a Federal Biosphere Reserve in the State of Morelos, called Sierra de Huautla.

UAM officials are planning to establish a Chair on ethnobotany in Gomez-Pompa’s name, where they plan to invite a distinguished ethnobotanist every year to give an intensive course on an ethnobotanical topic. Gomez-Pompa has been asked to advise UAM officials on this initiative.

Gomez-Pompa said UAM also hopes to establish a collaborative agreement with the new center on tropical research he is developing between the Universidad Veracruzana and UC Riverside.

Gomez-Pompa was recently appointed to the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR) of the National Academies of Science. The appointment is for three years.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.