Dr. Luis E. Eguiarte is a professor in the Department of Evolutionary Ecology, where he is also the chair, at the Institute of Ecology in the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He teaches population genetics and evolution and has published more than 235 research papers, 73 book chapters and written or edited 13 books. Under his direction, more than 35 graduate students have conducted their research, as well as many undergraduate and postdoctoral fellows. Eguiarte is one of Mexico's most prolific and creative students of evolution. He helped start the field of conservation genetics in Mexico, a country that is among the world's most biodiverse and one of the centers of plant domestication. Eguiarte has exploited this biodiversity by employing genetic approaches to analyze the domestication and origins of important Mexican plants such as maize, beans and pumpkins. He and his colleagues have also unraveled the recent adaptive radiation of Agave driven by the aridification of North America, thereby providing deep insights into how climate change can drive ecosystem evolution. He has collaborated with Professor Valeria Souza in the understanding and conservation of the oasis of Cuatro Ciénegas (Mexico) where they have described and studied ancient microbial lineages.