Consultants

Octavio Aburto

Consultant

Graduated in marine biology from the Autonomous University of Baja California Sur, where he taught for over six years. Director of Reef Fauna Project in 1998 and one of the key Mexican players in the research and design of fishing policies. He holds a PhD from the Center for Biodiversity and Marine Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and has focused his research on commercially exploited reef species and fisheries in the Gulf of California as well as in the management of protected marine areas in the region. He is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers and has documented marine ecosystems on the Mexican coast since 1994. His images have illustrated numerous publications. He currently leads a research group focused on the importance of mangroves for regional fisheries.

Luis Bourillón

Consultant

COBI founder and director of the Mesoamerican Reef Program.

He holds a doctorate in natural resource management from the University of Arizona, and a master’s in ecology and natural resource conservation from ITESM-Guaymas Campus. He has worked for over 30 years in marine research and conservation. In 1999, he founded COBI, together with another five ecologists. Since 2000, he has belonged to the Board of Trustees of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), and has promoted eco-certification programs in fisheries in Mexico. Since 2010, he has coordinated a collaboration network called Alianza Kanan Kay (www.alianzakanankay.org) involving over 40 organizations, whose goal is to create a functional network of fish havens encompassing 20% of the waters in the state of Quintana Roo by 2015.

Jaime Rojo

Consultant

Jaime Rojo is a Mexico City based Spanish photographer that combines his passion for wild nature, his storytelling skills and his experience managing conservation projects to elaborate multimedia campaigns that reconnect the public with the natural world. His work constantly innovates looking to surprise the audience. He is a frequent collaborator for several of the most important ecology and education NGOs from Mexico, the United States, Canada and Spain, either as a photographer or as a communication advisor. Amongst all of his projects, he coordinated the San Pedro Mezquital campaign to protect the last free-flowing river in the Western Sierra Madre as well as The Natural Numbers, a multimedia online series that questions our use of the natural capital of our planet. He is a Senior Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers since 2008, a Trustee of The WILD Foundation and a recipient of the Philipp Hyde Award by the North American Nature Photography Association. www.jaime–rojo.com