Juan Carlos Villarreal Aguilar is a Panamanian bryologist and evolutionary biologist based at Université Laval in Québec, Canada, where he is Professor of Biology. He trained in biology in Panama and the United States, completing a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution at the University of Connecticut in 2011, followed by postdoctoral research in Munich and at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
His research focuses on bryophyte systematics and evolution, phylogenomics, functional genomics, and symbiotic interactions between plants and microorganisms. He has a particular interest in hornworts and in associations between bryophytes and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms. Initially centred largely on tropical systems, his research has expanded to boreal and Arctic ecosystems, including bryophytes and lichens. His research also encompasses lichens and cycads, with studies addressing the genomics, microbial communities and chemical ecology of these ancient seed plants.
He holds a Canada Research Chair in the genomics and metabolomics of plant–microbe symbioses and has served as curator of the Louis-Marie Herbarium since 2022. His work combines bryology, evolutionary biology, genomics and microbial ecology to investigate the diversity, evolution and functioning of plant symbioses.
