Cell & Developmental Biology
Open Access

Rafael De Sa

Biography

Rafael de Sá grew up in Uruguay, the younger of two children born to parents Americo de Sá and Nelly Rodriguez. de Sá’s childhood environment greatly influenced his motivation to pursue a career in higher education, as his community placed a tremendous value on learning. Although his parents encouraged him to attend a university, they allowed him the freedom to decide which academic path to pursue.

When de Sá was very young, he became involved with a local museum that sponsored summer workshops in various scientific fields. Through these workshops, de Sá learned about everything from taxidermy to zoology. The museum also organized field trips with university professors, and de Sá was invited to go with them. As a result, from the time he was a young teenager, de Sá was often surrounded by academics and others involved in biology and conservation. His fascination for the field grew out of his experiences with these mentors.

de Sá graduated from the University of Uruguay with a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences, and continued his studies in the United States, where he received a Master of Science in systematic ecology and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Texas at Austin. de Sá is currently a professor of biology at the University of Richmond, where he teaches a variety of courses, including evolution, conservation biology, and natural history. His research focuses on frog biodiversity and the evolutionary biology of frogs. de Sá says he has dedicated his professional life to the environment because, quite simply, he loves it and cannot imagine doing anything else. Most importantly, he loves to teach others about the environment, and tries to involve undergraduate students in his research. de Sá has been teaching since he was 19 years old. He began teaching high school biology and chemistry as a way to support himself as an undergraduate at the University of Uruguay.  

Research Interest

The overall research framework in our lab is on evolutionary biology of anurans. Within this framework we have active research projects on molecular and morphological phylogenetic, systematics, taxonomy, and development. Our lab maintains active collaborations that involved reciprocal research visits with colleagues in the US as well as with several labs in South America, Europe, and Africa. These collaborations provide unique academic as well as cultural exchange opportunities.

Relevant Topics