Francisco L. Pérez's research interests include Mountain Geoecology, Vegetation Ecology, Soils, Alpine Geomorphology, and Biogeomorphology. He started hiking on mountains when he was 13 years old, and he still enjoys it more than any other field activity. He has worked extensively at high elevations (2500-4600 meters) throughout the South American Andes, the Western USA Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, the Hawaiian volcanoes of Haleakala and Mauna Kea, Teide volcano in Tenerife (Canary Islands), the Pyrenees, and in various smaller mountains of Texas, Spain, Venezuela, and Italy. Specific recent research interests include the ecology and geomorphology of microbiotic soil crusts and of vagrant cryptogamic organisms, the biogeomorphology of tropical alpine rosette plants, the effects of stone pavements and boulders on soil ecology, the process of evaporation of soil moisture, and the evolution of microrelief and of gnamma soils on granitic domes.

Professor Pérez's research interests dovetail neatly with his classroom activities, and he regularly teaches courses in Physical Geography, Mountain Geoecology, Process Geomorphology, Vegetation Ecology, and Soils. Dr. Pérez has authored nearly 70 publications, which have appeared in various scientific journals of 20 countries of Europe, North America, and South America.