Dr Erika Pinheiro de Castro

Erika is a biologist (UFRN, Brazil) with a master (UFRN, Brazil) and PhD degree (University of Copenhagen) in Biochemistry. She has worked as a postdoc at the University of Cambridge for nine years, in which she continues as a research visitor studying the coevolution between the tropical Heliconius butterflies and Passiflora plants.

Erika is passionate about the interactions between insects and their food plants, especially in the role of these interaction shaping species diversification and community establishment. Her multidisciplinary research projects combines biochemistry, biomechanics, behaviour and evolutionary ecology and have been funded by ERC-Marie Curie Actions and UKRI-NERC. Erika has joined the University of Suffolk envisioning to work closely with students and local communities to apply her expertise in insect-plant interactions to UK wildlife and farming industry.

Her teaching experience spam across Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Animal Behaviour. Her teaching philosophy is constructivism and compassionate Education.

Erika is particularly interested in outreach, education, and research activities that focus on widening participation in Science.