Dr. José F. González-Maya is a Professor and Head of the Conservation Biology Academic Area at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana – Unidad Lerma, Mexico. He also serves as the Board President for ProCAT Colombia and ProCAT Costa Rica. Dr. González-Maya holds a Ph.D. from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He serves as Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Small Carnivore and the Colombian Species Specialist Groups and is Senior Researcher by the Colombian Ministry of Science and National Researcher level II for SECYHTI (Mexico), he has authored over 180 scientific articles and 15 books, with his research garnering over 4,900 citations.