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Humberto Basilio
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Two thousand graduate student workers who went on strike at Harvard University starting on 21 April have brought a sizeable chunk of the institution’s teaching and research to a halt.
go.nature.com/4sQ6VMs
Alejandro Arteaga became internationally recognized for discovering new species of frogs, snakes, and lizards across Latin America. He says he has one simple mission: to save Ecuador’s forests from deforestation by discovering new species. Yet many scientists accuse him of doing the exact opposite.
I spoke Arteaga. He denies many of the accusations and says Ecuador’s scientific establishment is rigid, political, and failing to respond to the country’s environmental crisis. He says that his methods are necessary to save Ecuadorian ecosystems from deforestation due to massive mining.
I interviewed more than 60 scientists for this story. Several told me Arteaga has been accused before Ecuador’s Environment Ministry of collecting species in the field without proper permits. Wildlife photographers have also accused him of mishandling animals to capture striking wildlife images
This story isn't just about allegations against Arteaga. It is about a deeper, more uncomfortable question:
What happens when the urgency to save nature begins to override the rules meant to protect science itself? Can ethical breaches ever be justified by good intentions?
Arteaga’s critics say no
He’s also accused of taxonomic inflation: describing species that may not actually be new. Scientists say this can distort biodiversity records, waste scarce conservation funding, and create confusion in snakebite medicine, where not matching the correct antivenom to the correct species can be fatal
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Humberto Basilio
Humberto Basilio
Humberto Basilio
The latest on Colombia's plans to deal with their invasive "cocaine hippos" by @humbertobasilio.bsky.social 🧪
Humberto Basilio
Humberto Basilio
Humberto Basilio
Herpetologist Alejandro Arteaga has won accolades for his efforts to identify and protect Ecuador’s reptiles and amphibians. But his methods have entangled him in controversy. https://scim.ag/4ePKBQ4
An Ecuadorian biologist is accused of scientific misconduct, inflating species counts, mishandling animals, entering reserves without permission and potentially complicating the development of lifesaving snake antivenoms. For more than a year, I investigated him for @science.org:
Alejandro Arteaga’s efforts to identify and protect tropical reptiles and amphibians have entangled him in controversywww.science.org
