Luís Silva is a Biologist and a PhD in Biology (Plant Ecology) with a professorship in Biology (Environmental and Ecological Statistics). He is a researcher from InBIO and the director of CIBIO-Azores.

He has published about 100 international and national publications, mainly in the areas of plant ecology, biological invasions, Azorean flora, endemic species, conservation and forest.

He has lectured at bachelor, master and PhD degree courses, mainly in the areas of biostatistics, quantitative methods, ecological statistics, ecology and conservation.

He is particularly interested in modeling species distribution, and community composition and structure, and in Bayesian statistical models. He has been focusing on forest research, through the involvement in several projects dedicated to the ecological and economic valorization of the Azorean forest.

He is also developing research devoted to plant, microbial and phylogenetic diversity in different types of pastureland. Presently, he is the Editor-in-Chief of Biochemical Genetics and, as Red List Authority Coordinator, he is a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.

At the University of the Azores, he integrates the Assembly of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, the Scientific Council, the Strategy and Evaluation Council, and the General Council.