2014 Pearson Award - Hugo Mantilla-Meluk

The 2014 recipient of the Pearson Award is Dr. Hugo Mantilla-Meluk of Colombia.  Dr. Mantilla-Meluk received a B.A. Biology from the National University of Colombia in 1999, and a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology and Systematics, at Texas Tech University. After continuing as a post-doc at Texas Tech, he returned to Colombia to serve as Professor and Curator of the Mammal Collection at the Technological University of the Chocó. There, he mentored 18 undergraduate students and helped grow the mammal collection.  He was the first postdoctoral associate of the Institute of Natural Sciences at the National University of Colombia. He also founded the Colombian Society of Mammalogists.   He was hired as the mammalogy professor at Quindío University, where he teaches General Biology, Functional Evolution of Mammals, Vertebrate Systematics, and Biogeography and where he established the collection of mammals.  He has been prolific in publishing papers on his broad research interests spanning ecology, biogeography, morphology, taxonomy, and evolution, working primarily with bats and primates.  His current focus is investigating how the uplift of the Andes has influenced the evolution of Colombian mammals.  He has been described as being extraordinarily energetic with a seemingly infinite willingness to collaborate.  Congratulations to Dr. Mantilla-Meluk!