Exequiel Ezcurra obtained his Ph.D. in Ecology at the University College of North Wales, Bangor. In the 1970s, as a young researcher, he developed the first systematic Environmental Impact Assessment studies in Mexico.
He has published more than 200 research papers, essays, books, and book chapters. He has edited three books on the Sea of Cortés and its islands, including A New Island Biogeography of the Sea of Cortés with Oxford University Press. His international book Global Deserts Outlookwas published in 2006 by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to celebrate the International Year of Deserts.
As head of the Biodiversity Research Center 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.
Among many other distinctions, he was honored with the 1994 Conservation Biology Award by the Society for Conservation Biology, the 1999 Research Award from the Metropolitan University of Mexico (UAM) for the best research paper of the year in Mexico, and the 2006 Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation. In 1994 he was named Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). He was president of Mexico’s National Institute of Ecology from 2001 to 2005. From 1997 to 2000 he was Director of the Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias in San Diego, and from 2005 to 2009 he was Provost of the San Diego Natural History Museum.
Currently, he is the Director of the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS) and Professor of Ecology at UC Riverside. He is also a Research Associate at the San Diego Natural History Museum, an Adjunct Researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and is President of Mexico's National Board on Protected Areas (Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas).
Current position
Director, UC-MEXUS (UC Institute for Mexico & the United States), and Professor of Ecology, Department of Botany & Plant Sciences, College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of California, Riverside.
Former Institutions
San Diego Natural History Museum - Provost (2005–2008)
Instituto Nacional de Ecología, Mexico - President (2001–2005)
Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias - Director (1998–2001)
Centro de Ecología, UNAM - Researcher and Graduate Chair (1987–1998)
Instituto de Ecología, CONACyT - Researcher (1979–1987)
Fundación Bariloche, Argentina - Research Fellow (1975–1977)
Degrees
Botany and Natural Resources, 1973, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
M.Sc. Ecology, 1978, University College of North Wales, Bangor, U. K.
Ph.D. Ecology, 1984, University College of North Wales, Bangor, U. K.
Awards
Conservation Biology Award 1994, Society for Conservation Biology
UAM Outstanding Research Award 1999, Metropolitan University of Mexico
Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, 2005, Pew Trust
Peacemaker Award, 2007, National Center for Conflict Resolution, U.S.
