Lecturers
LECTURERS TYPICALLY INCLUDE:
Diego Quiroga, PhD
Diego holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is president of the University of San Francisco, Quito, where he has also served as dean of the graduate school, dean of academic affairs, dean of social sciences, and full-time professor. He co-directs the Galápagos Academic Institute for the Arts and the Sciences. His area of expertise is sociocultural anthropology, and his interests include medical anthropology, environmental anthropology, and indigenous and Afro-American cultures of Latin America. He has conducted extensive research in Ecuador, and his work has been published in prestigious academic journals.
Paola Santacruz, PhD Candidate
Paola is an Ecuadorian biologist focused on the study of insects, especially related to the ecological interactions between plants and insects. Paola studied at the Central University of Ecuador, and she is currently conducting her PhD thesis about plant-insect interactions in Yasuní National Park, Amazonian Ecuador. Paola has a grant from the French Aid Institute, IRD, and is conducting her PhD at the Montpellier University in Southern France. Paola Santacruz has published numerous science articles on peer-reviewed international journals about Ecuadorian insects, including butterflies.
Alexandra Almeida, MSc
Alexandra is an Ecuadorian chemist from the Central University of Ecuador and one of the most important environmental activists in the country, especially related to water/air pollution and human rights impacts from the petroleum and mining industries in Ecuador. Alexandra works at Acción Ecológica NGO, a leading organization for nature and human rights in Ecuador and Latin America.
Tatiana Santander, MSc
Tatiana is an Ecuadorian biologist who holds an MS in natural protected areas from the Autonomous University, Madrid, Spain, and a BS in biology from the Catholic University of Ecuador. She works for one of the leading conservation nongovernmental organizations in Ecuador, Aves y Conservación (Birds and Conservation). One of her main research activities was an in-depth study on the biology and conservation of the Nazca booby in the Galápagos Islands. Tatiana has led expeditions to discover and monitor endangered bird species, and she works with local communities to develop participatory, educational, and technical training programs.