Leopoldo G. Sancho received a PhD in Biology from the Complutense University of Madrid and is currently a full professor of botany at this University. He carried out postdoctoral studies for several years at the Institute of Polar Ecology in Kiel (Germany). He has participated in 17 expeditions to Antarctica in coordination with Spain, Chile, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United States. He was the head of the first experiment with lichens in outer space (2005), selected and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). He is the Spanish representative in the Life Sciences group of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and received the Prince of Asturias Award in 2002. He is a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Pharmacy and a fellow of the Linnean Society of London.