Consultant specializing in small-scale fisheries, coastal ecosystems, marine protected areas, GIS and communications.
Director and principle scientist
Hola, I am Juliana. I established Fundación Talking Oceans with Alex in 2011 due to the lack of effective mechanisms to conduct and communicate grassroots participatory research with and for communities.
Background
I have focused much of my research on the interaction between ecological variables and the social and cultural characteristics of coastal communities. I started my career in marine conservation designing and applying models of social-ecological resilience to determine the effectiveness of marine protected areas and support management. I developed this work with a multidisciplinary team supported by NOAA in the Colombian Caribbean.
My PhD research was a regional project that assessed and highlighted the importance of mangroves and estuaries as key ecosystems in the establishment of sustainable fisheries in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador). This work was supported with grants and awards by the Colombian Government, the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future, the WWF’s Russell E. Train Fellowship and Santander Universities.
Since my PhD, I have worked as a technical and fisheries consultant for the World Bank, Conservation International, WorldFish, Pelagic Data Systems and the University of Wollongong in Asia-Pacific. I particularly enjoy projects related to small-scale fisheries in developing countries, coral reef fisheries and traditional ecological knowledge.
I am the mother of two amazing little marine biologists to be, and love diving, trail running and Asian cuisine!
awards and recognition
I complemented my academic and technical training thanks to the Global Fellowship in Marine Conservation of Duke University (USA) and an internship at the Wildlife Conservation Society in Belize. My project investigating the biological and social dimensions of the parrotfish fishery in Islas del Rosario (Colombia) was awarded the Future Conservationist Award by the Conservation Leadership Programme.
Talking Oceans 