Staff
Lenin E. Oviedo Correa, PhD (Project Coordinator/ PI)
Lenin has nine years of experience directing or assisting in numerous marine biodiversity and habitat analyses projects, in his home country Venezuela, Costa Rica and Africa with emphasis on cetacean ecology. He has also been working with populations in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Tropical Pacific. Currently he has published ten peer-reviewed publications, with five more in the evaluation stage (Aquatic Mammals, Journal of the Marine Biological Association UK, Revista de Biología Tropical, Cetacean Research and Management). His research focus is on habitat assessments through behavior, trophic and spatial ecology of small odontocetes. His PhD thesis aims to determine the ecology of coexistence of sympatric dolphins in the tropics, including critical habitat of cetaceans in Golfo Dulce.
David Herra Miranda (Researcher)
David is the field-work wizard of the project. He is currently undertaking his major in wildlife management from UNED Costa Rica. He was born in Osa Peninsula and has developed a passion for scientific research with cetaceans. David is an excellent photographer and has been co-author to one published article and to several other manuscripts currently under review. David has also been involved in several other wildlife surveys in his home area, including frogs, birds, and lately big cats.
Juan Diego Pacheco Polanco, MSc (Researcher/CEO)
Diego was the project’s first intern, once he got his undergraduate degree from the School Biological Science at Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (UNA); he actively became involved with research on bottlenose dolphins in our study area and wider Osa Peninsula. Diego has been a recipient of the Society for Marine Mammalogy - Small Grant. Diego is currently a Master candidate with the Graduate Program for Tropical Coastal Areas Integrated Management of Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR). He is working towards producing his Master Theses on bottlenose dolphins ecology and threat assessment applied to management and conservation in Golfo Dulce.
María Gabriela Silva, BSc (Research Associate)
Gaby did her undergraduate degree at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, and has been working with marine mammals, especially cetaceans, since 2006. Her different study sites were located in the Caribbean (Central coast of Venezuela), in the Pacific (Southwestern coast of Costa Rica) and in the Gulf of Maine (Cape Cod and Nova Scotia), and she was able to collect a variety of scientific data; including density, distribution, habitat use, behaviour, photo identification, acoustics, DNA sampling, conservation, among others. Her expertise ranges from species like Bottlenose-, Pacific and Atlantic Spotted-, and Common Dolphins till baleen whales, such as Humpback Whales. She had the opportunity to acquire a broad variety of field skills and lots of knowledge working with various scientific teams and educational programs such as ISV (International Students Volunteers), Vida Silvestre Golfo Dulce, PCCS (Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies), and Proyecto Delphinus in Venezuela. Her goal is to generate as much valuable scientific information as possible, e.g. about the ecology of different cetacean species, and especially from those that are threatened and endangered, in order to promote their conservation.
Taboga (Captain)
Doña Azucena and Don Jorge (Logistical support – El Chontal Ecolodge managers)
Scientific Advisors:
Dora Ingrid Rivera Luther
Hilda Viquez Mora
Miguel Iñiguez
