Licence degree in Science and PhD in Botany from Harvard University. Full Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at Universidad de los Andes and Director at the Botanic and Systematics Laboratory. His book Nikolaus Joseph Jacquin’s American Plants (co-published by Brill and Ediciones Uniandes in 2013) was awarded the Stafleu Medal in 2015 for outstanding publications in historical, bibliographical, and/or nomenclatural aspects of plant taxonomy.