El Niño Fidencio and the Fidencistas: Folk Religion on the U.S.-Mexican Borderland, is an biographical ethnography examining the life of Mexico's most famous folk healer as well as the folk religious healing cult that has followed him since his death in 1938. Dr. Zavaleta examines curanderismo, the transmigrational patterns of Mexicans in the United States as well as Latino/a social psychology and importance of folk beliefs and practices in their daily lives.
In 2009, Zavaleta's lifetime of research supporting Mexican nationals living abroad, "Mexicanos en el Extranjero" earned him the prestigious Ohtli, a Nahuatl(Aztec) word meaning pathfinder. The Ohtli is regarded as the highest community-minded awards which the Republic of Mexico bestows to non-Mexican citizens for their service to Mexico.
In 2010, Zavaleta was appointed by President Obama to the Good Neighbor Environmental Commission of the EPA which reports directly to the President and dedicated to observing and analyzing ongoing events within the cross-border eco-systems of the United States-Mexico borderlands.
Zavaleta studied anthropology at The University of Texas a Austin completing a doctoral degree in 1976. For the past 40 years he has been a faculty member and administrator at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Dr. Zavaleta retired in 2016 and lives in Brownsville, Texas.