Ecuadorian botanist who, since 1993, has worked at the GUAY herbarium of the University of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Xavier Cornejo has worked as an associate researcher for the collection and identification of Ecuadorian plants. Cited as among the most important collectors of vascular plant specimens in Ecuador (Jorgensen & Leon, 1999) he is responsible for the description of 40 new species from a wide range of vascular plant families, 25 of which are native to Ecuador, as well as five genera within the Capparaceae family.
During his time at the university Cornejo has taught various botanical and conservation themed courses, both in Guayaquil and at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUCE-M) in the province of Manabi, Ecuador. He has also been involved in many projects to survey the flora and fauna of certain regions of his country and has created monographic treatments for the Proteaceae and Nymphaeaceae families for the Flora of Ecuador project. Currently he is working on the taxonomy of neotropical Capparaceae (caper family).
Since 2007 Cornejo has been a member of the New York Botanic Garden herbarium staff. At NY he has been involved in barcoding, cataloguing and databasing algal type specimens and imaging vascular plant types for the Latin American Plants Initiative project. More recently he has worked managing a project to create a virtual flora of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica for the same herbarium in the U.S.A. At present (2010) Cornejo has collected more than 8,100 plant specimens, primarily from Ecuador, although also from Costa Rica, and has published numerous scientific articles including contributions to the flora of his own country, as well as regional floras in Mexico. The following species have been named after him in recognition of his contributions to the field: Erythrodes cornejoi Dodson (Orchidaceae), Psychotria cornejoi C.M. Taylor (Rubiaceae), Platystele cornejoi Luer (Orchidaceae), Campylocentrum cornejoi Dodson (Orchidaceae) and Dilkea cornejoi Feuillet (Passifloraceae).
Sources:
Personal communication, January 2010.
