Ursula Ruiz Vera was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois. Her research focused on the physiological responses of plants to different environmental conditions. For the RIPE project, she worked on understanding the sink limitation and light interception efficiency of crops like soybean, tobacco, and cassava. Her most recent experiment is studying the sink limitation in cassava, the most important staple crop in Africa, at elevated [CO2] and in 8 different cultivars of cassava. Ursula received her bachelor’s degree in biological science from the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Lima, Peru, and went on to earn her doctorate in plant biology from the University of Illinois. Prior to joining the RIPE team, Ruiz Vera was a postdoctoral researcher at the Energy Biosciences Institute where she collaborated with other researchers to improve productivity predictions for Miscanthus. She has been recognized by the Plant Biology Graduate Research Enhancement Fund, as well as several other awards. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed journals, including Global Change Biology, Plant Physiology, Plant, Cell & Environment, Nature Plants, Frontiers in Plant Science, Journal of Experimental Botany, and Plant Science. Ursula is now the Senior Scientist Control Environment Plant Physiologist at Bayer in Tucson, Arizona, where she will be conducting physiological experiments in plants, specifically focusing on maize.