Dr. Vásquez-León has her PhD from the University of Arizona and has been on the faculty at Arizona since 2003 where she teaches development in Latin America. Dr. Vásquez-León has worked with fishing and farming communities throughout Latin America, including Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, and Colombia. Her research has included major studies of the role of agricultural cooperatives in Paraguay, Colombia, and Brazil; fair trade exchange of agricultural commodities; impacts of climate change on agricultural livelihoods, and the political ecology of small-scale fishing.