Ana Luz Porzecanski

“Your career can be successful and enjoyable. You don’t have to be this martyr to be successful, you can have a great life and enjoy it, too,” Ana Luz Porzecanski told the Atlantic shortly after becoming director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History in 2014. In 2017 Porzecanski, who was born in Uruguay and raised in rural Brazil, won recognition for her work as cocurator of “¡Cuba!,” the museum’s first bilingual exhibit, which explored the Caribbean island’s biodiversity and culture. Before her promotion to director, Porzecanski worked at the center for over a decade, leading conversation development projects, designing teaching materials, and leading project development for educator audiences in Latin America, Africa, and the United States. Porzecanski also teaches courses in conservation biology and evolution at New York University and Columbia University, where she earned her PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology. Updated July 2016