Born in Cuba in 1972, he graduated with a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from the University of Havana in 1995. He served as research assistant at the National Botanical Garden in Cuba for two years before emigrating to the U.S.A. thanks to a Visa Lottery.
Self taught as Scientific Illustrator he began his professional illustrations in 1994 using as subject the plants of his own research at that time, Cuban Maiden ferns of genus Thelypteris . During his two years period at the National Botanical Garden he provided illustrations for 5 undergrads and 2 doctoral thesis totaling around 70 illustrations, many of which were later published (see CV).
He is currently a Ph.D. Candidate from the Plant Biology Department at Michigan State University. To no surprise his research interests are the systematics and biogeography of the Maiden ferns (genus Thelypteris ) in the Caribbean Area.
For more information about Orlando visit the link to his Curriculum Vitae (CV).