Daniel A. Zhigila is a Lecturer in the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Gombe State University, Nigeria. He obtained his PhD in Biological Sciences, from the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, with specialization in Plant Systematics and Biodiversity Conservation. He teaches courses in Botany, Biosystematics/Taxonomy, Biodiversity Conservation and Evolutionary Biology at both undergraduate and graduate levels. To his credits, Daniel was the best graduating student for 2008/2009 session in the Science Faculty, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. A PhD Scholar of the Science Faculty, UCT, 2017–2020. A recipient of the Sir Robert Kotze International Research Travel Grant to Kew Herbarium, United Kingdom for plants curation and identification. A Bronze Medal Winner of the South African Association of Botanists for the best PhD thesis of the year 2021.  A Smuts Memorial Botanical Postdoctoral fellow at UCT, 2021. He is a recipient of the 2022 African-German Network of Excellence in Science (AGNES) Grant for Junior Researchers. Daniel is a member of the Botanical Society of Nigeria and the International Association of Plant Taxonomists. Daniel’s research interests include plant molecular phylogenetic relationships, taxonomy, genomic evolution, speciation and macroevolution of the African flora with current focus on the systematics of Santalaceae, Pedaliaceae, diversity, utilization of the African plants and the assessment of extinction risk patterns associated with Savanna biomes in the face of accelerated climate change. To date, he has published books and several scientific articles in local and international peer-reviewed journals. He is ambitious in unraveling the patterns and processes shaping the African biodiversity.