Astrid Vargas has dedicated most of her professional career to endangered species conservation, participating in different aspects of project management and administration, research, and conservation education programs throughout North and South America, Europe, and Madagascar. In 1988 she obtained a DVM in Spain, at the Complutense University of Madrid and in 1994 she acquired her Ph.D. at the University of Wyoming, working in the conservation and recovery of the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes), one of the world´s most endangered mammals. For more than ten years, she was actively involved in black-footed ferret recovery efforts, carrying out scientific research as well as working for the US Fish and Wildlife Service coordinating various facets of this program. In addition, Astrid has participated in different aspects of conservation/research/education efforts involving species such as the golden-crowned sifaka, Iberian lynx, Malagasy fosa, Mexican wolves, golden lion tamarins, European mink, monk seals, Wyoming toads, and Eld´s deer, among others. As a board member of IDEA WILD, Astrid has visited and/or identified candidate projects in eight developing countries (Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Madagascar). Astrid is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution as a Research Associate and she co-directs the Spanish NGO "Species and Spaces International". Presently, she concentrates most of her efforts on the establishment of a protected area in North East Madagascar. In addition, she acts as a consultant to the black-footed ferret recovery program in the US and to the ex-situ conservation program for the endangered Iberian Lynx in Spain. She also co-directs the course "Conservation and Management of Endangered Species", a training workshop designed to provide a working method to biologists and administrators dealing with endangered species conservation in Latin America and Europe.