Mariana Vera

Mariana was born in a small port town called Puerto Bolivar, Machala - El Oro Province, Ecuador. She was inspired to study biology because of her love of the sea. She attended the Technical University of Machala to study Aquaculture (Marine Biology) where she developed her thesis on the impact of the 1997-1998El Niño Event had upon the shrimp farms of coastal Ecuador, where she worked for approximately five years. Mariana has been involved in conservation in Galapagos for more than 7 years.

Presently she is an associate researcher in the marine coastal research area of the Charles Darwin Foundation in Galapagos (Ecuador). As a science diver, her work is centered on ecological monitoring with a specialty in taxonomic identification of sessile species (such as corals, tunicates, gorgonians, sponges and algae among others), and working with the health status of corals.

She has had the opportunity to participate in various science projects that work to improve our understanding of the islands. These research and monitoring programs include being a member of the Marine Ecosystem team, in Oceanographic trips (NASA-OCEAN), Coral Monitoring trips (Darwin Initiative), Surveys under Marine Management Area Science (MMAS) program Costa Rica/Coco Island, monitoring MMAS-Incofish trip to Puerto Lopez/La Plata Island, monitoring and training trip Los Roques Archipelago, Venezuela and many others.

Before working at the research station, she was a consultant for Conservation International, developing fisheries’ databases for Galapagos. Additionally, Mariana had the opportunity to work in the fisheries monitoring program as a research assistant, monitoring the main fisheries in the islands (sea cucumbers, lobsters, and white fin fish).

All of her experiences working and living in Galapagos have made her aware of the fragility of these islands and the serious problems that they confront; not only for marine conservation, but also in the terrestrial realm. She is very conscious of the enormous responsibility we all share to preserve these fantastic islands, and her 7 years of work in the islands have been driven by this fact. She also feels the only way people will be willing to help is if they have a thorough understanding of the islands biodiversity and all the components of the ecosystems. This drives her work and is the reason she became a naturalist guide so she could share her experiences and knowledge with the visitors in Galapagos.