Dr. Ricardo Pliego Cárdenas graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), with a Master of Science in Marine Resources Management from the Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas (CICIMAR, IPN), and a Ph.D. in Biological and Health Sciences from the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana - Iztapalapa (UAM-I). He currently holds the position of full-time associate professor at UAM and is a candidate for the National System of Researchers (SNII).

His research focuses on the study of population genetic dynamics and the resolution of taxonomic issues in aquatic animal species. In collaboration with national and international researchers, he has participated in projects that have resolved the identities of commercially important octopus species in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Pacific.

He is also interested in understanding the diversity of mollusk species in Mexico. He has contributed to this field as a professor in the Mexico Mollusk Workshop at the Faculty of Sciences of UNAM. Additionally, he has participated in the dissemination of octopus and squid biology in magazines such as "¿Cómo ves?" and in forums such as the Biodiversity Pavilion at UNAM.

At UAM, he teaches learning units (UEAs) in Genetics and Molecular Biology.
His future goal is to continue researching the genetic diversity and phylogeny of aquatic species in Mexico and to continue contributing to scientific outreach in this field.