Mexican botanist at the University of Aguascalientes (UAA). Margarita de la Cerda was born in the Federal District and attended the National Autonomous University of Mexico between 1963 and 1967. With a thesis on the monocotyledonous plants cultivated in Mexico State (focusing on ornamentals used in parks, gardens and other public spaces) she graduated as a botanist in 1970. For her master's thesis De la Cerda turned her attention to the flora of Aguascalientes and studied its weedy species between 1971 and 1974. Since 1980 she has worked in the UAA's Centro de Ciencias Basicas as a researcher, teacher and as curator of their herbarium HUAA.

Her research has focused on the flora of Aguascalientes, particularly the Cactaceae and Poaceae families, and has led her to undertake floristic projects for 11 families of plants in this state, producing numerous articles and books. As part of this research she has collected plant specimens all over Aguascalientes and has also worked on a project to identify potentially beneficial plants from three protected areas in Guanajuato. De la Cerda teaches students at the university, supervises theses and is involved in administration within the Department of Biology; revising study plans for the biology course and coordinating their Academy of Botany (2006-). She is also on the editorial committee for the journal Scientiae Naturae and has received several recognitions for her work, including the state prizes of Merit in Ecology (2000) and Environmental Merit (2007) and the Medal 'Dr. Jesús Díaz' for 25 years service to the U.A.A. (2005).

Sources:
Personal communication, September 2009.