Paul is a trained Geoscientist, holding degrees from the University of London (Birkbeck College) and the University of Reading (Postgrad. Research Inst. for Sedimentology), and a Doctorate from the University of Alberta, Canada (Dept. Earth & Atmos Sciences), where he studied modern reef development around Grand Cayman. After a brief postdoc at Indiana University, he took a position at the National University of Mexico (UNAM) to study Caribbean reefs off the Yucatan coast.

He's been working on these and other reefs for the last 20 years and has published papers in Nature, Science and other international journals on topics ranging from Hurricane impacts, to Postglacial sea-level rise, to Darwin's reef types. He trains students to become scientists and critical thinkers, is on editorial boards at the Royal Society, PLoS, and Scientific Reports, and advises various agencies (IPCC, CONACyT, NSF, ESF, NERC etc).

Contact:      blanchons@gmail.com   

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Juan Pablo is a trained Analytical Chemist, holding degrees from the National University of Mexico (UNAM), and a doctorate from The Australian National University (Research School of Earth Sciences)

He specializes in reconstructing past climates from geochemical proxies in speleothems and corals, and is interested in resolving past climatic oscillations that modulate the arrival of humidity to Mexico and Central America. Currently, he is focused on providing high-resolution reconstructions and developing new proxies for paleoenvironmental and paleohydrological conditions.

His main tool for these reconstructions is inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS). And in addition to using it for the isotopic analysis of U and Th for geochronology,  he  also directs it at the development of analytical methodologies to determine elemental composition of ultra-trace samples typically found in stalagmites and corals.

Contact:   jpbernal@unam.mx

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Rodrigo is a trained Marine Biologist, holding degrees from University of Campeche and CINVESTAV-I.P.N, and a doctorate from CINVESTAV in Merida. After a  postdoc at University of Miami (RSMAS), he took a faculty position at UNAM in Sisal in Remote Sensing and GIS.

He specializes in coral reef ecology focused on characterization, condition assessment and mapping, applying remote sensing and spatial prediction techniques.

His main field technique is high-definition underwater video, and current interests include the use of multispectral data to map and monitor coral reefs.

Contact: rgarza@ciencias.unam.mx

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Memo is a trained Reef Ecologist, holding degrees from the National University of Mexico (Inst. of Marine Sciences), and did his doctorate at The Florida Institute of Technology in the US. He then landed a faculty position at Veracruz University to study reefs off the Veracruz coast.

He specializes in the application of statistical analysis to coral communities to illuminate their environmental drivers.

Contact:  jorga1@yahoo.com 

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Alexis trained as a biologist, and holds degrees from Moscow State University, Russia (B.Sc. Biology and M.Sc. Biophysics). After a long break working in environmental and marine sciences in Cuba, he entered a masters program in Marine Science at the National University of Mexico (UNAM) were he studied the growth patterns (Sclerochronology) of scleractinian corals from the Caribbean.  For his  doctorate, he switched over to the geological side to  study how Caribbean reefs accrete and develop through time. Why? Because he wants to see for himself how reefs grow and not just accept what Ecologists tell him.

Contact: alexismedina67@gmail.com 

Eduardo, (or Lalo), studied Geological Engineering as an undergrad at UNAM's Faculty of Engineering (class of 2014). For his thesis, he investigated the form and geometry of back-reef deposits on a Caribbean fringing reef using Electric Resistivity Profiling. For his Masters he investigated reef structure at Mahuhual to see how it compares to that at Punta Maroma. He thinks these two reefs will be fundamentally different structures due to differences in their exposure to hurricanes. Let's see if he's right!

Contact: egidsm@gmail.com

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