Luis is a Brazilian biologist who has been working since 2003 with amphibians. He graduated and completed his master’s degree at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in the far south of Brazil. Currently, he is finishing his PhD on biogeography of Amazonian amphibians at the Universität Trier, in Germany.

Among many projects, he works on the perhaps most successful amphibian conservation program in Brazil: the Admirable Redbelly Toad project. Currently, he collaborates with the Giant of the Pampas initiative, which aims to protect the Ornate Horned Frog in South America.

Since 2014, he has been a member of the IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, collaborating with its Brazilian regional branch (ASG Brasil). In recognition of his work, in 2017 he was awarded the ACRS Future Leader of Amphibian Conservation prize.

Loving people as much as he loves amphibians, Luis believes education and environmental awareness are essential aspects of any conservation program. He is also very interested in bringing people together and working in collaborative and multi-disciplinary groups. By working with ASA, he hopes to make room for other conservationists from South America, one of the most biodiverse regions of the world, but still underrepresented in conservation teams working at global level.