Alejandro Farji-Brener receives international teaching award

Alejandro Farji-Brener, a senior researcher at CONICET and professor at the Universidad Nacional del Comahue, has become the first Latin American academic to receive the Penny Bernstein Award for Distinguished Teaching. The award is presented by the United States-based Animal Behavior Society (ABS).

Farji-Brener, based in San Carlos de Bariloche, specializes in terrestrial ecology and the study of ant behavior. His research utilizes ants as model organisms to investigate how small-scale biological changes affect soil, plant life, and biological invasions.

The Penny Bernstein Award is unique in that nominations are driven by students who recognize educators who have significantly impacted their training. Farji-Brener noted that his career has involved extensive field-based instruction with students from numerous Spanish-speaking countries.