América Rodríguez López

Paso Caballos Field Program Director

Ingeniero Agrónomo en Recursos Naturales Renovables, cursó estudios de Maestría en Antropología Social en la Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, y estudios de áreas protegidas en el Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza-CATIE- en Costa Rica. Tiene mas de 15 años de trabajo en organización de comunidades rurales, en áreas protegidas, promoviendo la conservación a través de fortalecer la gobernabilidad en el área, con socios y aliados estratégicos gubernamentales y no gubernamentales.

César Augusto Paz Chan

Coordinator of the Landscape Restoration Component of WCS Guatemala

César Augusto Paz Chan is a Natural Resources Management Engineer with a passionate dedication to environmental conservation and management in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. With a professional career of more than 19 years, he has been an advocate for the conservation of natural ecosystems, collaborating with community organizations. In 2016, he joined the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In his current role as Landscape Restoration Component Coordinator at WCS Guatemala, César leads efforts to restore and protect natural landscapes in the MBR, ensuring a sustainable future for biodiversity and local communities.

Edgar Vinicio Morales Chan

WCS Guatemala Compensation Project Coordinator

Edgar Vinicio Morales Chan serves as WCS Guatemala Compensation Project Coordinator at WCS.

Gabriela Ponce Santizo

Assistant Director of Biological Investigations

Bióloga de la Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, con Maestría en Ciencias Biológicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Durante su trabajo de investigación con primates realizado en el Parque Nacional Tikal inició su relación con WCS en el 2004. Desde hace 5 años trabaja en el Departamento de Investigaciones Biológicas de WCS como Coordinadora Técnica de los diferentes proyectos.

Jairo Ozaeta

Gerente Administrativo y Financiero

Jairo Ozaeta serves as Gerente Administrativo y Financiero at WCS.

José Fernando Moreira

Consultant

Graduated in Biology from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, he completed postgraduate studies in Brazil and Mexico related to the ecology, conservation and sustainable use of threatened species and landscapes. He currently coordinates the marine and coastal program at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), collaborating with government institutions and civil society in restoration, conservation and management actions.

Juan Noriega Arriaga

Director's GIS-CEMEC Assistant

Agricultural engineer in renewable natural resources graduated from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC). He has worked since 2003 on issues related to the generation, collection and analysis of data at the national level. He is a specialist in geographic information systems, remote sensors and databases. Trainer in technology topics, GIS, data collection. Since 2011 he has worked at WCS Guatemala and has collaborated in the production, synthesis and analysis of geospatial information in a transversal way for different projects at the Mesoamerican level, but mainly in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve.

Julio Morales Cancino

Director of Governance Programs

Julio C. Morales Cancino has a master's degree in management and conservation of tropical forests and biodiversity from the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) and an engineering degree in renewable natural resources from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC). He began his professional experience in the mid-1990´s working with forest communities in agricultural frontier zones in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Since then, he has worked with various organizations related to sustainable management of natural forests, communities, civil society organizations and government. Always linked to environmental issues, natural tropical forests, and conservation of natural ecosystems. In 2011 he started with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and is currently the Deputy Director of WCS Guatemala, based in Flores, Petén, Guatemala.

Luis Alberto Romero Tzin

Director of Environmental Protection

Educator and Environmentalist, Guatemalan, with 32 years of experience working in protected areas developing community work and environmental protection issues (control and surveillance - actions against forest fires), for CONAP, non-governmental organizations and organized community groups, mainly in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve, and on a smaller scale in other protected areas of Guatemala. He has served as a resource guard (park ranger), rural popularizer and community extensionist, first Director of the Sierra del Lacandón National Park and environmental protection technician. In addition, he is a specialized instructor in environmental protection issues, prevention and control of forest fires, and emergency management. Since 2006 he has worked for WCS Guatemala Program, serving as Director of the Department of Environmental Protection; where it focuses its work on providing advice and support to the National Council of Protected Areas, and its Partners (NGOs and organized communities), including the Departmental Forest Fire Commission (CIF-Petén) in information analysis, development and implementation of strategies and control and protection tactics, patrols; and related to prevention, risk reduction, preparation and response to forest fires to strengthen management and conservation in the Maya Biosphere Reserve and other protected areas of the country.

Rony Alberto García Anleu

Director of the Department of Biological Investigations

Bachelor's Degree in Biology from the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy and Master's Degree in Wildlife Management from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics, both from the University of San Carlos of Guatemala. Has been working since 2002, directing the Biological Research Department of the Guatemalan Program. Passionate about working with landscape species such as jaguars, scarlet macaws, white-lipped peccaries, tapirs, and the white turtle. He has been involved in testing and designing innovative technology for wildlife surveillance and control; such as automatic cameras, video surveillance systems, acoustic recording units and satellite telemetry.