Alberto Morales received his Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of California Irvine. His research interests lie at the intersections of biotechnology, inter-species relation, concerns for planetary health, and the procurement of scientific development in Panamá and Latin America. Since 2013, he has been conducting ethnographic research in the multi-sectorial science park known as the City of Knowledge shadowing natural products researchers in the laboratories of Panama’s premier biotech institute and among “advocates of science” in the bureaus of the National Secretariat of Science, Technology, and Innovation. “Natural products research” refers to the interdisciplinary work of searching for potent chemical compounds for future drug development.
