Arturo earned his Ph.D. at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, where he currently serves as a Staff Researcher working on marine conservation and resource management questions with a transboundary approach. After finishing his B.Sc. in Marine Ecology and an M.Sc. in Oceanography, Arturo taught for four years at the University of Baja California in Ensenada, Mexico. He has earned several prestigious awards, including the “Pedro Mercado Sánchez” Mexican Oceanography Award and the “José Alvarez del Villar” National Award for his research on marine biogeographic regionalization along the Baja California peninsula. His current research focuses on the effects of political borders on our understanding of marine resources, management, and conservation efforts.

"Within the Giant Sea Bass project, I am interested in generating robust scientific knowledge about this species, fill the gaps of information about its life history, and contribute to the recovery of its population. I will be looking to promote the transboundary perspective in the research for this species while maintaining a strong collaboration between different stakeholders; researchers, fishers, managers, and NGOs."

Juan Carlos is a recipient of the Latin American Fisheries Fellowship and CONACYT scholarship. He holds a B.Sc. in Oceanography from UABC and a Master of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara. Has worked tightly with fishing communities to promote sustainable fisheries and marine conservation. His work focuses on understanding the ecological and social implications of marine resource exploitation and management strategies.

"At the Giant Sea Bass project, I am interested in using data-limited methods to evaluate the state of the giant sea bass population. I also wish to understand how the giant sea bass fishery interacts with other fisheries in the region and what this represents in terms of socioeconomic and ecological effects. I believe that interdisciplinary collaborations between academia and non-government organizations can identify marine environmental issues and propose effective solutions, having the greatest impact."

Paula is currently doing her PhD at the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia). She holds a B.Sc. in Biology from UNPSJB (Argentina) and an M.Sc. in Marine Ecology from CICESE (Mexico). Paula’s main research interest is in the ecology of temperate fish. In the last years, she has worked with the functional diversity of the kelp forest and rocky reef fish communities of the Mexican Eastern Pacific. Currently, she is working to understand the effects of "tropicalization" on the temperate reefs of the East coast of Australia.

"At the Giant Sea Bass project, I am interested in generating basic information about the ecology and biology of this species. Particularly, I would like to study otoliths to obtain as much information as possible so that we can understand the life history of this species. I think this type of information is key to understanding its growth, stages of reproduction, and thus to be able to realize better fishery management.”

Timothy is currently working as a Research Acoustician at Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NOAA), where he collaborates on a broad project examining soundscapes in National Marine Sanctuaries. He holds a BA in Biology from the College of the Holy Cross, an MSc from the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, and a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His previous research focused on fish sound production during reproductive periods and its potential utility for population and behavioral monitoring through comparisons with other data sources.

"While he dedicates a large portion of his time trying to better understand the spawning behaviors and abundances of Gulf Grouper (Mycteroperca jordani) and Gulf Corvina (Cynoscion othonopterus), he is infatuated with large, top predatory fishes like the Giant Sea Bass. He has participated in a number of studies looking at the movements and potential for reproductive activity and sound production of Giant Sea Bass off Catalina Island, California. He is excited to continue his education on the life history and abundance of these Giants in the waters of Mexico through active participation in this important project".

Dr. Leticia Cavole is PostDoctoral Schoolar at Otolith Geochemistry & Fish Ecology Laboratory, in the University of California Davis. She received her undergraduate degree in oceanography at the University Federal of Rio Grande, the oldest and one of the most highly regarded marine science programs in Brazil, where she worked with fish population dynamics through the use of otoliths to analyze how fish grow under different habitat conditions in the South of Brazil. She also investigated the impact of historical fishing on their populations. Leticia has traveled to the Amazon to investigate the illegality of the trade of its most emblematic fish species Arapaima spp. She completed her PhD at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego where she used the chronological and chemical properties of otoliths to investigate how temperature correlates with fish growth, to improve our understanding of their populations, and to develop proxies for hypoxia exposure in deep-sea fishes. She is interested in combining her knowledge of fish and fisheries to integrate scientific information into the development of public policy and fisheries management.

Isaí is the founder and current director of KualiComunicación, a team of professionals who seek the general public to have access to scientific knowledge graphically and innovatively, and combines his time with his passion for photography, participating together with other colleagues in Mares Mexicanos an initiative that seeks to document the current state of the Mexican seas and raise awareness about its conservation. Isaí is a Marine Biologist with advanced studies in coastal resources management, both from the UABCS. He has worked in the conservation of mangroves and fish of Baja California Sur, generating data and evidence to promote conservation strategies of these resources.

His interests in conservation led him to join the Science Communication Dept. of CONABIO as a specialist advisor preparing content for dissemination through the web portal and documents and videos and as a reviewer for the magazine Biodiversitas. He also collaborates for the section "Mexico between land and sea" of the outreach journal Ciencia y Desarrollo of CONACYT. Isaí's expertise connects the science that generates the baseline for the appropriate conservation strategies of natural resources and the mission of generating awareness and sensitivity in a broad audience.

Arturo leads different fishery management and conservation initiatives at Comunidad y Biodiversidad, a Mexican NGO that promotes marine conservation and sustainable fisheries through community participation. He holds a BSc in Marine Biology at UABCS. Arturo serves as our main link between the Giant Sea Bass project and the fishers and their communities of Baja California.

Anto is currently working on his Ph.D. project focused on marine fisheries and fishery improvement projects in Baja California. Anto holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Science from UAB (Spain), an M.Sc. in Oceanography and Coastal Management from UB-UPC (Spain), and an M.Sc. In Marine Ecology from CICESE (Mexico). Anto’s main research interest is in the ecology of temperate coastal ecosystems and the social-ecological interaction with fisheries.

“My main interest in the giant sea bass project is to collaborate with academia, government agencies, civil organizations, and coastal communities to generate biological and fishing information to determined the population status in the region and set up the appropriate fishing management tools in order to ensure a sustainable fishery”

José received his bachelor's degree in marine biology from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS) and has experience in compiling databases, ecosystem monitoring fieldwork, and fisheries monitoring surveys. He is the primary liaison between scientists and fishers in the fisheries programs in wetland areas like Bahia Magdalena and Punta Abreojos (B.C.S.), on the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California, including Golfo de Santa Clara (Sonora), San Felipe (B.C.), Espiritu Santo and La Partida Island (B.C.S.).

Omar is currently working on his Ph.D. research related to shark fisheries in the Baja California Peninsula, and he is also the Coordinator of Marine Projects at our NGO partner ECOCIMATI. Omar holds a B.Sc. from the University of Guadalajara (Mexico) and an M.Sc in Marine Ecology from CICESE (Mexico), with a specialization in Fisheries Ecology. He has extensive experience working with artisanal fisheries in Baja California, and collaborating with fishers; he monitored the shark and ray catch for almost a decade. He also was in charge of the sea urchin and sea cucumber fisheries of Baja California at INAPESCA (Mexican fishery government agency). Since 2014, he has been in charge of monitoring the white shark population in the Guadalupe Island Biosphere Reserve, conducting research to gather information to improve the management and conservation of the species. He is also involved in monitoring the white sea bass (Atractoscion nobilis) captured on the Pacific coast of the Baja California Peninsula through a tagging and recapture program.

Ricardo is the Marine Projects Officer at Terra Peninsular (a Mexican NGO), where he leads conservation initiatives on coastal communities of the Baja California Peninsula. Ricardo holds an MSc. in Marine Ecology at the Center of Scientific Investigation and Higher Education of Ensenada (CICESE). He has worked with age and growth and demographic models of commercially important predator species like sharks, rays, and large fish. He is interested in studying species of economic interest due to their socioeconomic and ecological relevance.

"Within the Giant Sea Bass Project, I am most interested in furthering our understanding of how giant sea bass grow, a key component of stock assessments that inform fishery management. I also aim to understand giant sea bass' vulnerability to fishery activities, and its economic, social, and ecologic implications."

Jhony is a fisher diver in the Buzos y Pescadores de Isla Natividad fishing cooperative, where he actively participates in the abalone, sea cucumber, lobster, and finfish fisheries. He has extensive experience in ecological monitoring of the cooperative's marine areas in collaboration with COBI.

Tomas Camacho is a fisher in the Puerto Chale fishing cooperative, in Las Barrancas, B.C.S., where he actively participates in the lobster, and finfish fisheries. He received his BSc. in Fisheries Engineering in the UABCS at La Paz. Tomas is one of the most experience fishers of large fish (i.e., giant sea bass, groupers) in the Baja California peninsula. Tomas has extensive experience in ecological monitoring and fishery management, and he is helping Mero Gigante project collecting data and samples.