Rodrigo Medellín has studied and worked on ecology and the conservation of Mexico’s mammals, especially bats, for over 30 years. After graduating from the UNAM, he earned his PhD at the University of Florida. Medellín uses a different approach that includes community ecology, plant-animal interactions, population biology and molecular ecology.
He is also Adjunct Professor at Columbia University in New York and the University of Arizona. He is also a Research Associate of the American Museum of Natural History and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
In 2011 he became President of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), the most important group of conservation professionals in the world, and is a member of numerous national and international conservation organizations. He is founder and director of the Program for Conservation of Bats of Mexico. In 2004 and 2007 he was re-elected as representative of North America to the Animals Committee of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and is part of the Millennium Project of the United Nations to stop the loss of natural resources.
He has produced more than 170 publications including scientific articles and dissemination of scientific knowledge, and 40 books on ecology of bats, conservation and diversity of mammals. Rodrigo has served as Associate Editor of the scientific journals Conservation Biology, Journal of Mammalogy, ORYX and Acta Chiropterológica. His work has received several national and international awards.