Dr Angel Pérez-Ruzafa is Full Professor at the Department of Ecology and Hydrology of the University of Murcia. He completed his PhD studies in Biology at the University of Murcia, and has been awarded with the Medal of Civil Merit awarded by the King of Spain for his work in the ecology of coastal lagoons and his contribution to the defence of the ecological integrity of the Mar Menor lagoon. He led the EU Project European Marine Protected Areas as a tool for fisheries management and conservation (EMPAFISH). He has published 220 papers in various journals, and serves as Académico de número and Académico correspondiente for the Academia de Ciencias de la Región de Murcia and Academia Canaria de Ciencias, respectively. His teaching disciplines include Ecology, Biological Oceanography and Ecosystem Management, and his interests include Coastal lagoons ecology, Ecology of marine ecosystems, MPA functioning, impacts of human activities and climate change on coastal ecosystems and fish ecology and ecology, biology biogeography and taxonomy of echinoderms.