“In calling up images of the past, I find that the plains of Patagonia frequently cross before my eyes; yet these plains are pronounced by all wretched and useless.… Why, then, have these arid wastes taken so firm a hold on my memory? … I can scarcely analyze these feelings: but it must be partly owing to the free scope given to the imagination.”
~ Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle
Exequiel Ezcurra's 30-year research career achievements range from developing the first environmental impact assessments and triggering the establishment of various protected natural areas in Mexico, to promoting the creation of the California Condor release program in Baja California and starting the successful restoration of Guadalupe Island in the Mexican Pacific Ocean. His career as a plant ecologist has embraced a vast range of interests: nature conservation, land-ocean interactions, the application of mathematical modeling in ecology and conservation, and the management of natural resources in areas under traditional use. He is well-known for his studies of the interaction of climate variation and ecological dynamics both in desert environments and in the context of land-sea interactions. He stands out for his important contributions to the policy implications of the interconnections between the environment, ecology, and people.
He is extremely well known for his public outreach and for his work within the Mexican government, where he was honored as president of Mexico's National Institute of Ecology in 2001–2005. He has lectured in various universities in Mexico, the U.S., Spain, Argentina, and Uruguay. He has received numerous awards for his professional contributions to the field of ecology, including the Conservation Biology Award from the Society for Conservation Biology 1994, and the Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation 2006 (the world's most esteemed award in marine conservation). He has published more than 170 research papers, books, and book chapters, including three books on the Gulf of California and its islands, plus a large number of essays and articles for newspapers and popular journals. As research director at the San Diego Natural History Museum, he developed the scientific script of the giant-screen nature film Ocean Oasis, which won the 2001 Jackson Hole Nature Film Award and the 2002 BBC Wildscreen Award, and developed three highly successful museum exhibits on the natural history of Baja California, Southern California, and the Gulf of California.
Exequiel's research interests include conservation science, the ecology and biogeography of coastal deserts, land-ocean interactions and their impact on both marine and terrestrial environments, the application of mathematical modeling in ecology and conservation, and the management of natural resources in areas under traditional use.
University of California, Riverside
3324 Olmsted Hall
Riverside, California 92521-0147
Tel: +(951) 827-3546
e-mail: exequiel@ucr.edu