Isaac Ochoterena (1885–1950) was a Mexican autodidact, biologist, botanist, plant collector, researcher, educator and academic who published over 230 scientific works.

[2][3] Ochoterena documented the diverse botany and zoology of Mexico, publishing both books and papers on a wide range of topics.

[5] Ochoterena, with Fernando Ocaranza and Eliseo Ramírez Ulloa, was part of a new order of politically aligned medical institutions that developed in post revolutionary Mexico.

This may have been one of the factors delaying the development in Mexico of a broad-based approach to biological concepts and the examination of theories such as evolution and the origin of life.

[10] On the advice of Justo Sierra,[9] Ochoterena applied for and passed an examination given by the Secretaría de Instrucción Pública y Bellas Artes[4] qualifying him as a teacher of primary education in 1906.

Ochoterena and Ramírez also worked with Fernando Ocaranza Carmona to form the Sociedad Mexicana de Biología (Mexican Biology Society) in 1920.

[2] In the field of histology, Ochoterena made important discoveries relating to the disease Onchocerciasis, identifying the parasite which causes it, Onchocerca volvulus.

[4] In 1928 he showed that microfilaria were present in the eye and optic nerve, and in 1930, he identified Simulium ochraceum as the disease's main vector in the Americas.

[5] In 1929, a major political and educational reorganization occurred, with control of departments shifting from the government to the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM).

[18] After taking charge of UNAM's newly created Institute of Biology, Ochoterena offered Bravo Hollis the leadership of the National Herbarium, where she specialized in the Cactaceae family.

[2] From 1941 to 1943, Ochoterena held the government appointment of General Director of Educación Superior e Investigación Científica (Higher Education and Scientific Research).

[4] As of May 15, 1943, Ochoterena became a founding member of Mexico's National College, along with others including José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, Ignacio Chávez Sánchez, Antonio Caso Andrade, Alfonso Reyes, Carlos Chávez, Manuel Uribe Troncoso, Manuel Sandoval Vallarta, and José Vasconcelos.