ELI GREENBAUM, Ph.D. is an associate professor of evolutionary genetics and Director of the University of Texas at El Paso Biodiversity Collections.  Every year since 2007, he has led expeditions to Democratic Republic of the Congo, the poorest and least-developed country in the world, to document its poorly known biodiversity.  With his all-Congolese research team, he has explored thousands of miles of remote jungles, mountains, savannas and rivers, and discovered scores of new species of amphibians and reptiles, several of which have been named in one of his 100 peer-reviewed, scientific publications.  His work has bolstered efforts by American wildlife organizations and the Congolese government to establish new national parks in an effort to protect more of Congo’s unique and threatened biodiversity.  His research has been published in top scientific journals, including PLoS ONE, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Biology Letters, BMC Evolutionary Biology, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, and Journal of Biogeography.  His discoveries have been featured in NBC News, National Geographic Daily News, Africa Geographic Magazine, and The Huffington Post.  A 2016 documentary about his work, Emerald Abyss: 9 Years of Research in the Congo, is available on Youtube.