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Guillermo Harris
Senior Conservacionist
Graduated as a veterinarian in the Buenos Aires University, is also a wildlife artist and writer. Based at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s field station at Golfo San José, on the coast of Patagonia between 1981 and 1991 writing and illustrating field guides on local wildlife. On staff with WCS since 1992, was named WCS Country Director for Argentina in 2000. Directed projects funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) aimed at strengthening management and wildlife conservation on the coast of Patagonia from 1993 to 2014. These projects were instrumental in the reduction of oiling of Magellanic penguins at sea and in the creation of the first marine park in Argentina, a 1,100 square kilometer coastal marine protected in the north of Golfo San Jorge, in 2009. Author of Princeton's "Guide to the birds and mammals of coastal Patagonia" and co-author of Acindar's two tome "Nueva Guía de Aves Argentinas". Harris received the Bay and Paul Biodiversity Leadership award in 2005 and WCS’s Conway Fellowship award in 2008.
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Javiera Constanzo
Asistente de dirección científica
Javiera es Médico Veterinaria y Magíster en Medicina de la Conservación (Master of Science in Conservation Medicine).
Apoyar, potenciar y fortalecer la implementación y promoción del Programa de conservación de WCS, a través del desarrollo de actividades de gestión, investigación, manejo, educación para la conservación y difusión, derivadas de los proyectos, planes y estrategias que WCS tiene actualmente en Chile, con foco en la Región de Magallanes.
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Juan Martín Cuevas
Sharks and Ray Conservation Coordinator
Juan Martín Cuevas joined WCS Argentina in late 2015, to develop and implement a program of work on sharks and rays in the Patagonian Sea. Juan Martín received his Licentiate in Biological Sciences from Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata (UNdMP) in Argentina, his MSc in Zoology from Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (UESC) in Brazil and completed his PhD in Natural Sciences from Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) in Argentina, with his Thesis titled Conservation tools for chondrichthyans in the Argentine Sea. In addition to his own field research, Juan Martín's priorities for the new program are networking with regional experts and assessing the current state of knowledge of species and fisheries, identifying data gaps, and developing a set of priorities for a five-year program of work, including research priorities.
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Lara Heidel
Land Conservation Coordinator and Spatial Planning Analyst
She has a degree in biological sciences from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and her areas of professional interest are ecology and spatial planning with emphasis on the interaction between people and wildlife, the search for alternatives to the conflicts between conservation and production, and evaluation and mitigation of the impacts of the climate change on wildlife. She was chosen to participate in the 2009-2010 class of Emerging Leaders in Wildlife Conservation, sponsored by the Gilman Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife, USFWS, IFAW, and the Wildlife Conservation Network. She is a founding member and former president of a local NGO, Conservación Patagónica, based in San Martín de los Andes.
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María José Bolgeri
Regenerative Management Manager
Maria Jose Bolgeri has a PhD in Biology. She worked with WCS Argentina for more than 15 years as a consultant, and became full-time staff in 2022, as the Coordinator of Coexistence Strategies for the Terrestrial Program, responsible for developing and testing tools for and working with livestock producers and government agencies for the implementation of wildlife friendly management of livestock production. She lead research on guanacos in La Payunia, serving as a liaison for WCS with government partners and livestock producers in Mendoza, developing of non-lethal tools for predation management, and directs of the livestock guarding dog breeding facility.
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Martin Funes
Protected Areas Manager
Martín Funes is currently the Terrestrial Protected Areas Manager for WCS Argentina. Martín has dedicated more than 30 years to wildlife conservation, management, and research in Patagonia. He completed a Licenciate degree in biology at the University of La Plata and a Masters in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. He has worked on carnivores, raptors, guanacos and lesser rheas and management plans. Within WCS, prior to his current role, he served as Conservation Director of the Argentine Program, Coordinator of the 5-year Cooperative agreement between WCS and the US Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation of Argentinean and Chilean Patagonia, and Landscape Director of the Patagonian Steppe Program.
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Matias Ayarragaray Tabuenca
Río Uruguay Project Coordinator
Matías Ayarragaray Tabuenca completed his university studies in Biology at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina, and later completed a Master's Degree in Environmental Management at the National University of Litoral, Argentina. He is a professor of the Bachelor's Degree in Biology, in the subject Restoration Ecology at the Autonomous University of Entre Ríos. His main professional experience is related to the management and conservation of biodiversity. In the present time he is the Conservation Coordinator of the project "Islas y Canales Verdes del Río Uruguay" under implementation in the lower sector of the Uruguay River in the countries of Argentina and Uruguay.
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Melissa Carmody
Coordinadora Parque Karukinka
Bióloga Ambienta, Magíster en Medio Ambiente.
A cargo de la gestión y manejo del Parque Karukinka, ejecutando estrategias para la reducción de amenazas de los objetos de conservación del Parque. Gestión de proyectos y financiamiento para Karukinka. A cargo del equipo de Guardaparques y del uso público del territorio.
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Santiago Francisco Krapovickas
Program Manager
Santiago Krapovickas graduated with a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires and obtained a diploma as a specialist in management of non-profit organizations from the University of San Andrés. He has worked, mainly as a consultant, for various organizations, both governmental and non-governmental: Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, Administration of National Parks, Wildlife Conservation Society, Fundación Patagonia Natural and Tompkins Conservation. He was Director of Conservation at Aves Argentinas / AOP (1996-2005) and Coordinator of the Forum for the Conservation of the Patagonian Sea (2011-2016). He participated as a consultant and team member in several programs that achieved the creation of new terrestrial and marine reserves. He is a graduate professor in project management at the University of Buenos Aires.
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Solange Clara Fermepin
Marine Conservation Analyst
Graduate in Physical Sciences (UBA) and PhD in Environmental Sciences with orientation in Climatology (UPMC-Paris VI). During her PhD, she learned about the impacts of climate change, and in particular, about the loss of biodiversity at a global level. Determined to reorient her career towards conservation, upon her return to Argentina she completed a Master's in Biodiversity Conservation at UBA. Currently, she works in the Coastal-Marine Conservation Program, where she is mainly dedicated to the use and analysis of spatial data to inform conservation actions and management of coastal and marine ecosystems, based on scientific research and expert knowledge.
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