Prof. Dimitar Dimitrov is an evolutionary biologist with a background in arthropod systematics and evolution with a specific focus on spiders. He received his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Barcelona, Spain before completing several postdoctoral fellowships at George Washington University, The University of Copenhagen, and the University of Oslo. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Systemic Entomology at the University of Bergen, as well as an Entomology Curator at the University Museum of Bergen, Norway. His research aims to understand how underlying evolutionary and ecological process generate and maintain biodiversity through time and space, and the responses of communities and individual species to climate change. Prof.

Gustavo Hormiga is the Ruth Weintraub Professor of Biology at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Research in his lab focuses on spider systematics and evolution, with emphasis on orb weavers. Gustavo did his undergraduate studies at the Universitat de Barcelona and his M.S. and doctoral work at the University of Maryland. He is a Research Associate at the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University, the California Academy of Sciences (and an Elected Fellow) and the American Museum of Natural History. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark).