Osvaldo Sala

Osvaldo Sala is a Regents and Foundation Professor at Arizona State University (ASU), affiliated with the School of Life Sciences and School of Sustainability. He serves as the Founding Director of the Global Drylands Center and holds leadership roles in multiple institutes. Previously, he was Director of the Environmental Change Initiative at Brown University. His research focuses on arid ecosystem dynamics, global biodiversity scenarios, and climate change impacts. He has over 255 publications with 69,000 citations and an H-index of 112.

Education: Ph.D. in Ecology from Colorado State University. Key roles include President of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), the first Latin American/Hispanic leader, and member of the National Academies Committee overseeing U.S. Global Change Research Program. He has advised numerous graduate students and leads grants from NSF, USDA, DoD, and DOE.

Research interests span arid ecosystem functioning, biodiversity effects, and global sustainability challenges. Notable contributions include the 2000 Science paper on global biodiversity scenarios and field experiments across Patagonia, Kalahari Desert, and the Loess Plateau. He explores precipitation patterns, ecosystem services, and human-environment interactions in drylands.

Scientific honors include Fellowships from AAAS, ESA, and AGU; elected membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Argentinean National Academies. His work bridges ecology, policy, and global sustainability, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration across 50+ countries.