The 2015 recipient of the Pearson Award is Dra. Mariana Freitas Nery of Brazil. Dra. Freitas Nery received a B.A. Biology from Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil in 2005, her Master of Science at Universidade Federal Rural Do Rio De Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and her Ph.D. in Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile. Then returned to his home country to made a Post‐Doc Position in Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil) and now is Professor at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil). Since 2008 ha has publish 17 papers, many in top journals. She has been prolific in publishing papers her lines of research are evolution, comparative genomics, phylogenetics, Evo-Devo, working primarily with marine mammals. His current focus is investigating Genetics and Evolution of marine mammals. Congratulations to Dra. Mariana Freitas Nery!