Ana Luz Porzecanski

Uruguayan-born conservation biologist who directs the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History and co-curated the museum's 2016 exhibition on Cuban biodiversity.

Researched by Muhammad Abdullah Al Yasin · 30 August 2026

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Country: United States
Born: Uruguay; raised in rural Brazil
Field: Conservation biology, biodiversity, conservation education
Doctorate: Columbia University, ecology and evolutionary biology
Current role: Director, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History (since 2014)
Recognition: Carnegie Corporation "Great Immigrants" honoree, 2016

Overview

Ana Luz Porzecanski is a conservation biologist born in Uruguay and raised in rural Brazil (Carnegie Corporation of New York). She holds a biology degree from the Universidad de la República in Uruguay and graduate degrees, including a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology, from Columbia University (American Museum of Natural History). Since 2014 she has directed the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History (Carnegie Corporation of New York), where her work focuses on understanding biodiversity and how to sustain it, and she has taught conservation biology and evolution courses at New York University and Columbia University (American Museum of Natural History).

Research

Porzecanski is the lead and corresponding author of “A systems framework for planning and evaluating capacity development in conservation,” published in the journal Oryx in 2022 with eleven co-authors from institutions including the American Museum of Natural History and partner conservation organisations (Oryx). She is also the second author, alongside Francisca C. Almeida, Joel L. Cracraft and Sara Bertelli, of a 2021 paper in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society on the molecular phylogeny of tinamous, a group of South American birds (Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society).

The “¡Cuba!” exhibition

In 2016, Porzecanski co-curated “¡Cuba!”, a bilingual, binational traveling exhibition on Cuban biodiversity and culture at the American Museum of Natural History. She told Newsweek the exhibition aimed to “take people beyond the headlines to what they may not know or expect about Cuba,” adding that “biodiversity of Cuba is also part of Cuban identity” (Newsweek). The exhibition drew on a 2015 scientific expedition to Cuba’s Alejandro de Humboldt National Park that she co-led; in an interview with Mongabay about that expedition, she noted that “one of every two plants in Cuba are found only there,” and that for amphibians endemism runs even higher (Mongabay).

Recognition and public engagement

The Carnegie Corporation of New York named Porzecanski a 2016 “Great Immigrants, Great Americans” honoree, an annual recognition of naturalized U.S. citizens (Carnegie Corporation of New York). In May 2021 she appeared as a guest on PBS’s Amanpour & Company to discuss pandemics and human ecology (PBS).

What this profile does not claim

No IUCN, United Nations, or named grant-making role is stated, since none was independently verified. No net worth or personal financial information is included. A quote attributed to her via the Carnegie Corporation’s page, said to have originated in The Atlantic, is not repeated here because the original Atlantic article could not be located.

Timeline

1996: Completes her biology degree (Licenciatura) at the Universidad de la República, Uruguay.
2003: Completes her PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology at Columbia University.
2014: Becomes Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History.
2016: Co-curates "¡Cuba!", a bilingual traveling exhibition on Cuban biodiversity and culture at the American Museum of Natural History, and is named a Carnegie Corporation "Great Immigrants" honoree.
2021: Appears on PBS's Amanpour & Company to discuss pandemics and human ecology.
2022: Publishes a lead-authored paper on capacity-development frameworks in conservation in the journal Oryx.

What we could not verify

These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.

Sources differ on the year the "¡Cuba!" exhibition opened: the American Museum of Natural History's own staff page and a November 2016 Newsweek article place it in 2016, while the Carnegie Corporation's 2016-dated honoree page describes it as a 2017 exhibition. This profile follows the earlier, more precisely dated sources.
No independently verified role with IUCN, the United Nations, or a named research grant was located; none is stated here.
A quote attributed to her by the Carnegie Corporation, said to originate in The Atlantic, could not be traced to an original Atlantic article; it is not repeated here.

Sources

7 sources (4 tier 1, 2 tier 2, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.

Each source below was fetched and read against the claim it supports. Her education and early-career details are corroborated across her employer's own pages, a professional-society-hosted CV, and the Carnegie Corporation's independent restatement of her PhD; where a fact rests only on her own or her employer's account, it is marked first-party rather than independent.

The evolution of tinamous (Palaeognathae: Tinamidae) in light of molecular and combined analyses — Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (Oxford University Press), 13 October 2021 · Tier 1 Supports: Confirmation of her standing as a working, published systematics researcher, listed as second author.
A systems framework for planning and evaluating capacity development in conservation: recommendations for practitioners — Oryx (Cambridge University Press, for Fauna & Flora International), 1 February 2022 · Tier 1 Supports: Her role as lead and corresponding author on a peer-reviewed conservation-education framework paper.
When Will Americans Get to Experience Cuban Culture? — Newsweek, 26 November 2016 · Tier 1 Supports: Her role as co-curator of the "¡Cuba!" exhibition and direct quotes on its purpose.
Ana Porzecanski (guest page) — PBS, Amanpour & Company, 11 May 2021 · Tier 1 Supports: Her appearance as a guest discussing pandemics and human ecology.
Field Notes: Expedition to Cuba seeks out new and endemic species — Mongabay · Tier 2 Supports: Her role co-leading a 2015 biodiversity expedition to Cuba's Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, and direct quotes on Cuban endemism.
Ana Luz Porzecanski (Great Immigrants honoree) — Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2016 · Tier 2 Supports: Her country of birth, upbringing in rural Brazil, and the 2016 Great Immigrants recognition.
Ana Luz Porzecanski (staff directory) — American Museum of Natural History (official staff directory) · First-party Supports: Current title, education, and general career description.

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