Vida de Ecosistemas Terrestres

From January 28 to 31, 2026, researchers from the Center for Research and Applied Projects in Earth Sciences and professors from The Faculty of Earth Sciences Engineering at the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral held a training session in Francisco de Orellana as part of a project aimed at strengthening local capacities to address the impacts of illegal mining.

ESPOL’s FICT held the academic talk ‘Exploring the Amazon from Space: GIS and Remote Sensing in University Education,’ aimed at strengthening academic training through the use of geospatial tools. During the event, a scientific article analyzing the expansion of illegal mining in Zamora Chinchipe was presented, highlighting the use of GIS and remote sensing—developed by the faculty of ingenieria en...—to understand territorial dynamics, support decision-making, and prevent environmental and social impacts in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The UNESCO Chair in Geosciences Applied to Sustainable Development at ESPOL promoted the value of kamanchaka, coastal fog that brings moisture to the Prosperina Protected Forest, sustaining biodiversity and ecological processes in dry areas through natural water collection.

The project “Monitoring of soil health bioindicators in syntropic agroforestry food systems in the Amazon” was approved and funded by CNPq and ACTO in the Pro-Amazonia call for proposals. The initiative, led by UFRA with the participation of ESPOL, will integrate GIS and remote sensing to analyze and monitor soil health. ESPOL's participation is through Ph.D. Andrés Velástegui, strengthening international scientific cooperation and the generation of key information for the sustainable management of the Amazon region.

FICT researcher Divar Castro Rodas, M.Sc., received the award for Best Oral Presentation at The 2nd International Electronic Conference on Land, organized by MDPI Land magazine. His work presented a comparative analysis of supervised classification algorithms applied to land use and land cover in Guayaquil, highlighting the scientific contribution of FICT and ESPOL in the international academic arena.

Mining Engineering students from the Faculty of Geosciences Engineering (FICT-ESPOL) participated in a co-teaching session with Dr. Fernando Morante (CIPAT) regarding zeolite deposits in the Chongón–Colonche Range. The session bridged the gap between applied geology and selective mining techniques within the Ecuadorian context, strengthening the technical judgment of future professionals and aligning with SDGs 4, 9, 12, and 15 through quality education linked to the real industry.

FICT-ESPOL hosted Dr. Marisa Giuffrida, a researcher from the University of Catania (Italy), for a scientific stay focused on the mineralogical study of rocks on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. This collaboration, carried out under the Climred and Peligal projects alongside Dr. Maurizio Mulas' team, seeks to decipher the geological origin of the archipelago. In addition to the scientific contributions, this alliance with the University of Catania —the oldest in Sicily— strengthens the Faculty's internationalization, paving the way for future exchange programs for students and researchers.

A top-decile (Q1) scientific study analyzes 24 sub-watersheds on Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos) to prioritize those with the most favorable conditions for sustainable water management and agriculture, identifying five key watersheds with high water-retention capacity. Published in Environmental & Sustainability Indicators, the study provides high-impact scientific evidence to support territorial planning and climate change adaptation in volcanic island environments.

FICT actively participated in the Second Provincial Climate Change Forum 2025 in Guayaquil, where Dean Ing. Paúl Carrión, Ph.D., served as a panelist on water funds, and researcher Ing. Emily Sánchez moderated the Productivity segment. The event brought together experts, authorities, and local stakeholders to address solutions for climate adaptation, mitigation, and management, strengthening collaboration between academia, the public sector, and society.