figure a

Dr. Ricardo Rosa is currently a permanent professor of the Graduate Program in Biological Sciences – Zoology at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) in João Pessoa, Brazil, where he still mentors graduate students after retiring from his position as Professor in the Department of Systematics and Ecology of UFPB in 2019. He received a major in Biological Sciences from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, in 1976, and a PhD in Marine Science from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, in Virginia in 1985. During his long career at UFPB, Ricardo served as chair and vice-chair of the Department of Systematics and Ecology, as well as head of the graduate program for two terms. His teaching contributions to the undergraduate and graduate programs at UFPB included courses in General Biology, Vertebrate Zoology, Ichthyology, Elasmobranch Biology, Systematics and Biogeography, and Conservation Biology.

Ricardo’s research interests focus on the systematics and ecology of Neotropical fishes, particularly of sharks and rays and reef fishes, having published over 150 articles, books, and book chapters, and mentoring nearly 60 graduate students on these subjects. He has actively participated in the evaluation of extinction risk of Brazilian fishes, collaborating with Brazilian environmental authorities and with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Ricardo joined the Editorial Board of Environmental Biology of Fishes in 2021. He has also served as the Editor-in-Chief and Advisory Editor of two Brazilian journals, Revista Nordestina de Biologia and Gaia Scientia, as well as being a member of the Editorial Boards of several other journals in biological sciences. He edited two books on the biology of Neotropical freshwater stingrays and is a Guest Editor of a journal special issue on the biology of elasmobranch fishes.