Speakers
Luis Carrillo, University of Mexico City, AArk
LUIS CARRILLO started working in zoos back in 1994. There, he has had the opportunity to receive training both as a wildlife veterinary clinician and also as a biologist. He has worked with Amphibian Ark in a voluntary assisting in the organization, development, facilitation and/or as lecturer of many AArk’s Conservation Needs Assessment workshops and amphibian biology and management courses in Latin-America, and he is now full-time Training Officer. Since 2005, Luis has also worked with the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG/SSC/IUCN) Regional Network Mexico and since 2012, has been the regional representative for Mexico with the main role of organizing and facilitating conservation workshops for many species in the Latin-American region.
Isabel Lopes, University of Aveiro & CESAM (Portugal)
ISABEL LOPES is a Principal Researcher at the Biology Dep. and CESAM at University of Aveiro. She is developing research in ecological risk assessment, aquatic ecotoxicology and microevolution due to chemical pollution, using amphibians and other aquatic species as model organisms. She coordinates research projects that aim at: (i) assess salinization (due to climate changes) effects on freshwater coastal ecosystems; (ii) assess fate, behavior, and effects to biota of nano materials and (iii) evaluate the occurrence of contaminant driven genetic erosion and its consequences on natural populations viability. Isabel has also joined to several projects related to Experimental Science Education, developing modules for experimental teaching and held its transposition into the various levels of education. In parallel, co-lectured training courses for teachers and she is responsible by the organization of the Advanced Course “Ecotoxicology of Amphibians and Reptiles: from theory to practice” annually held on UA.
MICHAEL BUNGARD began his career by completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Plymouth and quickly realized that his core interests lay in ecology and conservation. After spending time working for zoos in the UK, he completed his M.Sc. in Applied Ecology and Conservation. Field work for his Master’s thesis was in Mauritius, which further developed a deep interest with reptile and amphibian conservation, particularly in the Indian Ocean region. Along with his co-authors, he helped develop an awareness project on threatened Malagasy anurans for the IUCN. He now works for Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust (Paignton Zoo) as the Curator of Lower Vertebrates and Invertebrates where he designed and runs one of the largest amphibian conservation centers in Europe. Using the amphibian center, he has helped develop an amphibian conservation program in the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania, as well as conducting Ph.D. research on habitat mitigation for Malagasy amphibians. Michael is also a member of the IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group and his current research interests cover improving species distribution models to predict the distribution of tropical montane anurans (East Africa and Madagascar) in the face of climate change.
ARTURO MUNOZ SARAIVA, Bolivian Amphibian Biologist, is the coordinator of the Bolivian amphibian initiative (www.bolivianamphibianinitiative.org), working with amphibian since 1998 in different subjects mainly in the field, in 2007 started the Bolivian amphibian initiative (BAI) project working with research, capacity building, education and captive breeding. BAI has created the first captive breeding facilities to hold threatened Bolivian amphibians, and at the moment has been able to breed several species among those the critically endangered Titicaca water frog (Telmatobius culeus). It also organized and collaborated with different amphibian actions plans, both in Bolivia and other countries.
Now Arturo is carrying out his PhD. In Ghent University in Belgium together with BAI working in the foraging strategies of Titicaca water frog.
Michael Bungard, Wjitley Wildlife Conservation Trust (Paignton Zoo)
