Stefan Gelcich is a marine Biologist based at the Universidad Catolica de Chile, he studies the linkages and feedbacks between social and ecological systems. He is particularly interested in advancing science that contributes to the sustainable management of coastal oceans. He has been part of multiple interdisciplinary projects and centers over the past 20 years. He is the director of the Instituto Milenio en socio-ecologia costera. He has been part of important international and national synthesis efforts aimed at decision makers. Foremost among these is the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy where he co-led the chapter on The Future of Food from the Sea. In Chile he co-led the Fisheries and Aquaculture report for the Ministry of Science to present at the COP 25 meeting and is a co-author of the report on impacts of climate change on the coast of Chile funded by the Ministry of the Environment. Stefan has been given numerous awards such as The Pew Charitable Trust fellowship in Marine Conservation, (2014), the Distinguished Lecturer Award of the Universidad Católica (2015) and The Rosenstiel Award (2020) in ocean sciences from the University of Miami, for his global contribution to interdisciplinary marine science.
Josh Donlan is a practitioner and scientist who has been working on environmental conservation topics for the past three decades. He is the founding director of Advanced Conservation Strategies which focuses on program design, sustainability science, and evaluation.
Benjamin Lagos. As a passionate diver and explorer, Benjamín Lagos Schiappacasse (Q.E.P.D.) participated in several expeditions along the coast and Patagonian channels of Chile, always trying to combine his passion for the oceans, science, and conservation. Benjamin was an Environmental Civil Engineer from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with experience in leading conservation in the private sector and non-governmental organizations. Benjamín was an Executive Director of Fundación Capital Azul between 2020, and until his death in 2022, leading work to create the first network of TURF-reserves in alliance with artisanal fishing organizations.
Rodrigo Sanchez Grez is a commercial engineer and PADI Open Water instructor. He has worked on various coastal sustainable development and ecotourism projects with coastal and indigenous communities. Since 2022, he has been the executive director at Fundación Capital Azul, an organization dedicated to establishing TURF Reserves in partnership with artisanal fishing unions. For over 7 years, Rodrigo has served as an Expedition Leader for science and tourism expeditions to the fjords of Chilean Patagonia and as a professor in the Bachelor's degree program in Expedition Engineering and Ecotourism at Universidad San Sebastián.
Rodrigo Estévez is Sociologist, with a master’s in biology, and a PhD in Science from the University of Melbourne. Currently, Rodrigo is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science at the Universidad Santo Tomás, and principal researcher in the Millennium Institute on Coastal Socio-Ecology. His research focuses on the study of social-ecological systems in marine and terrestrial environments. He develops multi-criteria participatory methodologies to support decision-making in natural resource management, protocols for expert elicitation, and conceptual tools for planning, governance and management of artisanal fisheries, and marine and terrestrial protected areas, including local and traditional ecological knowledge.