Professor Maria Beatriz Aguirre-Urreta is a leading Argentine specialist on Charles Darwin's researches in South America, which resulted in joint editorship of a special volume of Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina and joint authorship of an article in Geoscientist in 2009. She has been invited to Alexandria, Egypt, as a key-note speaker in the world-wide conference on Darwin Now, where she presented a review of Darwin’s research in South America.

Soon after her graduation she start studying the relationship of the ammonite fauna and early links between South Africa and South America, research that received the Hutchinson award in the International Geological Congress, Washington. She is an expert in Cretaceous ammonoids of the Andes and has collaborated in research for over 25 years with Professor Rawson (a Fellow of the Society), both in Argentina and the UK, and particularly in relation to fundamental studies of the Neuquén Basin. This was significantly supported by two major grants from The British Council. Professor Aguirre-Urreta spent six months at University College London in 1988, and has made frequent return visits to the UK. She is an active contributor to the International Subcommission on Cretaceous Stratigraphy and was a voting member for nine years.