José María Iriondo Alegría is a full professor of the Biodiversity and Conservation Area of Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) in Madrid (Spain). He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering specialized in plant sciences, a specialist degree in Plant Genetic Resources and a PhD from the Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Program of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM). His research and training are specialized in in situ conservation of crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild food plants (WFP), threatened plants, and alpine plants affected by climate change. In 1999, he joined the working group on Crop Wild Relative Conservation of ECPGR (European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources) and have since worked on CWR in Europe developing criteria, methodologies and standards for the conservation and management of these PGR, through active participation in four European research projects (PGR Forum, AEGRO, PGR Secure y Farmer's Pride). Presently, he is vice-chair of the CWR working group of ECPGR and a member of the Advisory Committee of EURISCO, the European database of plant genetic resources. His research is specialized in in situ plant conservation with a focus on population dynamics, reproductive biology, population genetics, biotic interactions and local adaptations in the context of climate change.