Dr. Luis M. Diaz
Curator of Herpetology at the Cuban National Museum of Natural History
Dr. Luis M. Diaz is curator of herpetology at the Cuban National Museum of Natural History in Havana since 1998. He earned his PhD from the University of Havana in 2009. Dr. Diaz has published more than 60 papers about the systematics, natural history and conservation of Cuban amphibians and reptiles, including new species descriptions. In 2008 he published the book ”Guia Taxonomica de los Anfibios de Cuba(Taxonomic Guide for the Amphibians of Cuba), the first comprehensive guide to identify Cuban amphibians. Dr. Diaz is also an enthusiastic birder. Since 2003, he has guided more than 20 groups of birders and herps-watchers in Cuba. He has been a visiting researcher at The Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto), the American Museum of Natural History, the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, Pennsylvania State University, Cornell University, the Field Museum of Chicago, the National Museum of Natural History of Santo Domingo, and others. He participated in several conferences and meetings not only in Cuba, but also in USA, Italy, Colombia, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic. Dr. Diaz has been awarded twice by the Cuban Academy of Sciences for his contributions to the field of herpetology, and his guide on amphibians was considered the best book on natural sciences in 2009 by the University of Havana. He has been supported by grants from World Wildlife Fund, Amphibian AArk, the Linnean Society of London, the University of Wuerzburg (Germany), Tohoku University (Japan), and the Ministerio de Educacion Superior, Ciencia y Tecnologia of Dominican Republic, to conduct research projects both in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Dr. Diaz is member of international specialists groups of experts like the Amphibian Specialist Group, Anolis SG, and Iguana SG. He is also member of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) and the Cuban Society of Zoology. During the last ten years, he has been teaching several introductory courses of Herpetology as Faculty of Biology at the University of Havana.
