2023 Liliana M. Dávalos

Liliana M. Dávalos is a Professor of Conservation Biology at Stony Brook University (New York). Dávalos’ focus is on biodiversity and conserving the world’s life support systems into the future. In her research, she uses genetics, genomics, and statistical tools to discover mechanisms of extinction and survival. She received her B.Sc. in Biology from the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia, and a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology at Columbia University. She has published over 90 research papers, including work appearing in high-impact journals such as Science, Nature, and Current Biology. Dávalos is a 2012 National Academies of Sciences Education Fellow in the Life Sciences, a 2013 Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow for an outstanding early career, has advised the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime on deforestation since 2007, and is a member of the Science Panel for the Amazon. She is a co-editor of The Origins of Cocaine (2018) with Professor Paul Gootenberg, a coauthor of the 2016 and contributor to the 2022 World Drug Report, and a co-editor of Phyllostomid Bats (2020) with Ted Fleming and Marco Mello.