About Us

Louis W. Porras ventured into the publishing business in 1995. As a member of Canyonlands Publishing Group, he was involved with the publication of Pythons of Australia (by Brian A. Kend) and also was the Managing Director of Fauna magazine. In 2000–2001, he became the Editorial Director of Fauna (through Fauna, Inc.) and the following year founded Eagle Mountain Publishing to specialize in the production of high-quality books in the biological sciences. Five widely acclaimed books (Biology of the Vipers [2002], Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding — The Art of Carel Pieter Brest van Kempen [2006], and Biology of the Boas and Pythons [2007], Amphibians, Reptiles, and Turtles in Kansas [2010], and Conservation of Mesoamerican Amphibians and Reptiles [2010] are testament to his commitment for achieving the highest standards in modern publishing.

Louis has authored or co-authored over 50 papers in academic herpetology, including the description of new species and an important contribution entitled The Ecological Impact of Man on the South Florida Herpetofauna, published by the University of Kansas and sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund. For several years he served as Vice President and President of the International Herpetological Symposium, through which he helped launch the journal Herpetological Natural History and publish the book Advances in Herpetoculture. Porras also has served as Editorial Consultant for various publications, and presently is involved with the color layout and design of Herpetological Review. A native of Costa Rica, in 2004 he translated Serpiented de Costa Rica /Snakes of Costa Rica (by Alejandro Solórzano) from Spanish to English. Two reptiles, a gecko from the Ragged Islands and a pitviper from Costa Rica have been named in his honor.