Josefina Arce, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. She received her B.S. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Texas at Austin.

During her academic career, her research in physical organic chemistry was published in journals including the Journal of the American Chemical Society and the Journal of Organic Chemistry. She later devoted an important part of her career to science education, collaborating with science education groups at the University of Washington and Purdue University and serving as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator of several projects funded by the National Science Foundation. Her work in chemical education has been published in the Journal of Chemical Education, and she was the principal author of a Spanish-language General Chemistry Laboratory Manual published by McGraw-Hill.

Following her retirement from the University of Puerto Rico in 2011, Arce expanded her work beyond the university into agriculture, environmental education, and public communication of science. Through Finca Atabey and Educación Atabey, she has worked for many years with sustainable and regenerative approaches to agriculture, exploring how soil health, biodiversity, ecological processes, and food production are interconnected.

She is also the author of several books that bring scientific knowledge to broader audiences and explore our relationship with nature, education, sustainability, and the environmental challenges facing contemporary societies. Her recent work seeks to connect science with everyday life and to promote a deeper understanding of a central idea that has guided her work across disciplines: human well-being ultimately depends on understanding, protecting, and regenerating the natural systems that sustain life.