Dr. Alonso Ramírez is a professor at the Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University. His research focuses on the ecology of tropical and urban streams and aquatic macroinvertebrates; with emphasis on the importance of conducting long-term studies to understand those systems. 
 
His laboratory has three main research goals, to: (1) understand the dynamics of tropical streams in the context of climate change, in particular assessing the impact that a changing climate has on ecosystems processes and aquatic biota; (2) understand the dynamics of urban streams, in particular in the tropics, and assess how urbanization is affecting aquatic biota and the ecological processes in which they participate; (3) assess the value of riparian zones in protecting stream ecosystem function and biodiversity, this aim is focused on tropical cloud forest streams in Mexico. The lab also conducts taxonomical studies to facilitate the identification of tropical aquatic macroinvertebrates.