The First-Generation Cuban American Biologist Who’s Conquering Evolutionary Science
- Sierra Pope
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Sierra Pope | Multimedia News Intern
3-minute Read
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – In the heart of Queens, New York, a young Martha Muñoz would sit wide-eyed as her parents filled the mind with wild landscapes and vibrant creatures by telling stories about their homeland–Cuba. Those childhood tales sparked daydreams involving the untamed beauty of nature that carried her from city blocks to distant islands with rich biodiversity.
“Any green space, any museum, any zoo, these were places where my imagination and my fascination and wonderment with the natural world could run wild, could run free,” Dr. Muñoz told Belen Dumont at Connecticut's Latino News.
Dr. Muñoz made note of the importance of introducing minorities to the natural world and sciences. “Growing up, I had no idea that I would become an evolutionary biologist, a professor, a curator, a scientist—primarily because I didn’t know that these were jobs,” Dr. Muñoz explained to Dumont. “I didn’t know this was a career I could access.”
Now, Dr. Muñoz, 2024 MacArthur Fellow, is celebrated for her groundbreaking research within evolutionary biology. In addition, she is an Assistant Professor at Yale University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and an Assistant Curator at the Yale Peabody Museum in its Division of Vertebrate Zoology.
Being a field biologist, Dr. Muñoz works in the tropics, developing hypotheses and carefully observing organisms—specifically reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. “The nature of my research is to understand how evolution happens,” Dr. Muñoz shared with Dumont. “In particular, I’m fascinated by how it’s not a uniform process. Sometimes, evolution can be really quick. In other cases, evolution seems to plod along. I’ve discovered that organisms themselves play an incredibly prominent role in dictating the rate at which evolution unfolds.”
Dr. Muñoz’s initial study of tropical anole lizards resulted in innovative relations between an organism’s habitat structure, behavior, and physiological adaptations. “Through their behavior organisms can, on the one hand, expose themselves to natural selection by using new resources or entering new environments, which in turn should prompt or accelerate evolution,” Dr. Muñoz stated to Dumont. “Conversely, organisms can use behavior to shield themselves from selection—hiding from environmental extremes, shielding themselves from certain types of predators—and in so doing, limit the natural selection they experience and slow evolution down.”
Above all, Dr. Muñoz understands the transformative power of connecting people to environmental structures, cultivating a place where wonder and curiosity can thrive. With this insight, her work fuels scientific discovery and also inspires underprivileged youth to see themselves in science-related fields, proving that access and aspiration can coexist.
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