Erick de la Barrera was the 2012-2013 Fundación México en Harvard "Antonio Madero" Visiting Scholar at the David Rockefeller of Latin American Studies and the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.  He is Professor of plant physiological ecology at the Institute for Ecosystems Studies and Sustainability, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

He holds a B.S. from the Universidad de Guadalajara and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Research in his laboratory considers physiological responses of plants to various environmental factors, plant reproductive ecophysiology, and plant adaptation to climate change.

During his tenure as at Harvard University he conducted an analysis of vulnerability to climate change of Agave tequilana, the succulent plant used to make tequila.

He also is an avid popular-science blogger and can often be found on twitter.