Robert A. Villa

Research Associate and Curator of Cultivated Plants, University of Arizona
President, Tucson Herpetological Society

Robert is a naturalist, and folk biologist, specializing in the bio-cultural heritage of the Sonoran Desert region. He is president of Tucson Herpetological Society, and a Research Associate and Curator of Cultivated Plants at the Desert Laboratory, University of Arizona. He has consulted for literature and film, as well as published in academic and popular outlets, about the Sonoran Desert region. His primary interests and experience are in herpetology, botany, the bio-cultural workings of mezcal and regional gastronomy, and general folk ecology (ethno-biology). Recently he has worked on a unique archaeological site in the arid center of the Sonoran Desert. When he isn't getting dirty, or immersed in literature, he plays the violin to whoever will listen. He continues the exploratory legacy of the Sonoran Desert region, a biotic textile of subtle and resilient threads.