A female Peruvian scientist studying in the Netherlands has been awarded the UNESCO Women in Science awards for 2007 in Thailand.

The award will enable her to further her studies on how rice production in the paddy fields of northeastern Thailand could be improved, while protecting the value of other associated plants used for food and medicine by local residents.

Gisella Cruz García, 29, is a PhD student in the Crop and Weed Ecology Group at Wageningen University, where her research focuses on the biodiversity of paddy rice ecosystems.

The field work for her PhD will be carried out in cooperation with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, which she will join as an international research fellow later this year.