Dr. Laura R. V. Alencar is Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and is an evolutionary biologist interested in understanding what generates and maintains biodiversity. To address this goal, Dr. Alencar mostly uses squamate reptiles as a study group combining natural history, morphological, geographical and phylogenetic information to explore the diversification patterns and potential underlying processes shaping the radiation of these organisms in large temporal and spatial scales. Laura earned her Master’s in 2010 and her Ph.D. in 2016, both at the Department of Ecology at the University of Sao Paulo. During her Ph.D., she explored the diversification dynamics of vipers, generating a new molecular phylogeny for the family and elucidating different macroevolutionary patterns and processes driving the evolution of arboreal and terrestrial vipers. Laura is currently working with Dr. Tiago Quental’s lab investigating the relevant drivers of species coexistence in snakes and lizards, and how similar continental and island radiations are.