Conservation biologist earns prestigious title and research support from renowned biodiversity foundation

He’s usually the one doing the naming, having identified 65 previously unknown species. Now Alessandro Catenazzi has been named himself as the Half-Earth Chair.

The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation’s Half-Earth Project promotes global biodiversity research and scholarship with the idea that if at least half of the world’s land and water is managed to safeguard biodiversity, the planet can survive. Catenazzi was nominated and selected by the Half-Earth Chair & Scholars Advisory Board members for his research leadership and role in protecting biodiversity. Catenazzi has worked in the cloud forests of southern Peru for nearly three decades, searching for solutions to a deadly fungal disease that has wiped out entire species. He helped gather critical information needed to expedite the establishment of nine new protected areas in one of the most biologically diverse regions of Peru. Along the way, he has also identified entirely new species of frogs and other animals in his quest to save the world’s amphibians from extinction.

“The focus here is to train people who will become leaders in the future in biodiversity research and leaders who can have the greatest impact,” Catenazzi said.

The foundation granted Catenazzi $120,000 over four years for his research in the Amazonian Andes and $60,000 more to support young scientists he chooses to mentor. He plans to select those already working on projects in the "Neotropical" region of Central America, South America and the Caribbean, which has a variety of climates, from tropical to temperate, and habitats, such as lakes, wetlands, rivers and floodplains. 

Catenazzi will use the funding to further his taxonomy research and investigate the ecological aspects of frog-biting midges, tiny insects that are attracted by frog calls.

“There is a disease that has been spreading very quickly in amphibians that is lethal”, Catenazzi said. “Now, the pressing question is whether these midges aid in spreading this fungal disease. It is basically the Covid of amphibians.”

To collect samples, Catenazzi swabs frogs he finds in the Andes-Amazon. By analyzing these samples, he can identify whether midges can transmit the fungal disease as well as other diseases.

Globally, amphibians are in trouble and in desperate need of conservation action, according to a 2023 global assessment of the world’s amphibian population, which Catenazzi co-authored. Nearly 41 percent of amphibian species are threatened with extinction, making them the most imperiled class of vertebrates on the planet. Since 1980, at least 37 species have gone extinct, with disease and habitat loss being the primary culprits. Amphibians located in the Neotropics are of particular concern. The need for better strategies to prevent amphibian pandemics is urgent, according to Catenazzi.