Co-founder of Capital Azul Foundation, Stefan is a marine biologist from the Católica del Norte University, and holds a PhD in Renewable Natural Resources Management from the University of Wales. He works as an academic at the Pontifical Catholic University and director of the SECOS Millennium Institute in Coastal Socio-Ecology.

Co-founder of Capital Azul Foundation, Josh holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University, New York. He is also founder and executive director of Advanced Conservation Strategies.

Lawyer from Pontifical Catholic University, Francisca is Managing Director of TMF Chile and a consultant in matters of philanthropy and non-profit activity, advising important non-governmental organizations in Chile and abroad, as well as the State of Chile.

Alfredo is an economist from the University of Essex, founder and CEO of Shellcatch Inc. His main focus has been to address the modernization of fisheries management and the fundamental mismatch between how organizations are monitoring fishing activity, how fishers are selling their product, and the way consumers actually want to shop and buy these products from them. Alfredo has developed a network of multilateral associations that includes public institutions, NGOs and universities from various countries in South America, Central America, North America and Southeast Asia. His work has allowed him to be recognized internationally for his contributions and innovations in the sector.

A commercial engineer and PADI diving instructor, Rodrigo is the founder of Buceando Chile diving center. He has worked in several coastal sustainable development and ecotourism projects with coastal and indigenous communities, and since 2022 he is the executive director of Capital Azul Foundation. For more than 7 years, Rodrigo has worked as a science and tourism expedition leader in the fjords of Chilean Patagonia and as a professor of Expedition Engineering and Ecotourism at San Sebastián University.

A community psychologist and visual artist from Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Paulina is interested in uniting both disciplines through the implementation of collaborative art strategies for the promotion of critical and creative participation of communities. She has experience leading various collaborative art projects in rural communities in Chile and abroad. At Capital Azul Foundation she leads the socio-communitary team to promote the co-creation of initiatives with artisanal fisher unions, as well as social science research to gather evidence on the effects that TURF-Reserves bring in the perception of fishers’ and communities.

Andrés is a marine biologist from the Católica del Norte University. Always combining diving with science, he has worked in several scientific projects of ecosystem and fisheries assessment. For more than 20 years he was distanced from science and dedicated himself to diving, but when he realized that the abundance of species was declining, he took a step back and resumed his work as a scientist. From that moment on, he joined Dr. Stefan Gelcich's socioecology laboratory at the Pontifical Catholic University and saw the birth of Capital Azul Foundation, where he leads the Biodiversity Monitoring Program, collecting data in situ and being an important part of the nexus between fishermen, fisherwomen and science.

After working in media outlets such as Patagon Journal magazine and El Mercurio of Valparaíso newspaper, his concern for the triple climate crisis led him to participate in projects such as Plataforma Costera and the TURF-Reserves program of Capital Azul Foundation, where he joined the team in 2021. A journalist from the Valparaíso Catholic University, Tomás strives to maintain close contact with nature, and in 2019 he founded Chile Anfibio, an ecotourism agency dedicated to packrafting.

Francisca is an Environmental Engineer from Valparaíso University and holds a Master's degree in Wildlife Areas and Nature Conservation from the University of Chile. Throughout her career, she has worked in several non-profit organizations focused on nature conservation, such as The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Chile and Kennedy Foundation, as well as public entities. She has extensive experience in project formulation and management, ecological planning, land use planning, monitoring, research, environmental education, work with communities, restoration and management projects for both terrestrial and marine conservation.

M.Sc. & Ph.D. candidate, Francisco Javier Contreras Drey is a marine biologist from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC). He has worked for more than nine years in studies on socio-ecological systems linked to artisanal fisheries in Chile. Has worked in different projects associated with academia: FONDECYT, CAPES UC and Millennium Institute in Coastal Socio Ecology SECOS, and also with activities involved with teaching within the PUC.

Community psychologist, Carola Benítez has worked in territorial projects related to community strengthening. Her interests lie along thematic lines of gender and environmental conservation, as well as art as a tool to work on individual and collective processes. Currently, she is the Territorial Coordinator at Capital Azul Foundation, where she carries out support and accompaniment work for the Artisanal Fisher Unions in the planning, development and monitoring of activities related to their TURF-Reserves.

Economist from the Università di Genova, M.Sc. in Statistics from the Università di Firenze and European Master in Official Statistics (EMOS). Giovanni is currently Principal Data Scientist at Capital Azul and Lead Data Scientist at Banco de Crédito e Inversiones. He has extensive experience in advanced data development and modeling, big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Professional in ecotourism and Master's student in Geography, with training and experience in participatory methodologies, involved in environmental education and outreach with specialization in marine ecosystems, local communities, tourism and protected wildlife areas. Javiera possesses an interdisciplinary approach and interest in working from a gender perspective in conservation, along with the development of research from animal geographies, perspectives that seek to contribute to a society that knows, respects, values and protects biodiversity and its cultures. In addition to her role at Capital Azul, she works as a professor in the Ecotourism Administration program at Andrés Bello University. Co-founder of the NGO Aula de Mar, she also belongs to the open water swimming collective “Las Chungungas” and the Women in Conservation Network of Latin America and the Caribbean.

An electrical engineer and PADI diving instructor, Camilo is in charge of coastal surveillance systems at Capital Azul Foundation. He has more than 15 years of experience in the broadcasting area, leading projects and technical operations in different companies, such as TVN and Warner Bros. Parallel to his work at Capital Azul, he is currently in charge of the technical supervisors team of the Mediapro Group in Chile.

Publicist and designer with experience in graphic arts, design, publishing and collaborator in scientific communication projects. With five years of professional experience, Daniela has worked as a designer in foundations, NGOs and museums, dedicating from her area to support environmental conservation.