Eugenia del Pino

Eugenia Maria del Pino Veintimilla (b. 1945, Quito, Ecuador)

Developmental biologist. First Ecuadorian woman to be elected to the Latin American Academy of Sciences (1988), and first Ecuadorian to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (2006).

M.Sc. Vassar College, 1969, Ph.D. Emory University, 1972. Head of Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador, 1973-1975, and profesora 1973-present. Alexander Humboldt Fellow, German Cancer Research Foundation, Heidelberg 1983. Fulbright Fellow, Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1990. L’OREAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureate, 2000. TWAS Medal, 2004. Eugenio Espejo Medal, 2005, President of Charles Darwin Foundation several years during 1990s.

Del Pino's work has focussed on the embryonic development of several kinds of tropical frogs. Many of these have highly unusual reproductive systems, and this has added greatly to our understanding of the relationship between evolution and embryonic development.

Additionally, her work for the Charles Darwin Foundation and her position as the only Ecuadorian woman to have achieved international recognistion in science, have made her a figure of national importance in Ecuador.

Sources:

http://www.darwinfoundation.org/downloads/news/Eugenia_del_Pino_En.pdf

http://www.agora.forwomeninscience.com/education_of_girls_and_women/2006/04/reflections_on_being_a_scienti.php

http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~twas/pdf/NL17_4_PDF/06-MedalLect_29-34_lo.pdf