Michelle is a Tropical Biologist and MSc. In Conservation and Wildlife Management. She has experience in conservation projects with public and private institutions involving felids, amphibian and reptile conservation, road-ecology, and ecological restoration. She is currently coordinating an inter-institutional citizen science initiative called iNaturalist CR, which seeks to involve citizens in the registration of biodiversity data. Michelle is passionate about hiking and wildlife watching. She is part of the CRWF Board of Directors to technically and administratively support the projects that the foundation undertakes.

Enrique has been involved in agriculture, livestock, reforestation and conservation for the last 10 years.

My academic background is civil engineering and business administration.

“I believe that conservation efforts achieve their greatest potential when they are shared.

I see in the Costa Rica Wildlife Foundation an interdisciplinary and highly motivated team to achieve the full potential of its conservation efforts and I am very excited to be part of this team and its initiatives.”

Esteban is a Conservation Scientist from Costa Rica who specializes in wildlife conservation and population ecology, he is the Executive Director of Costa Rica Wildlife Foundation. In CRWF, Esteban is in charge of managing conservation and scientific processes, identifying and prioritizing future actions, planning, fundraising to keep on going the conservation impact, and lobbing for the inclusion of scientific evidence into decision making to implement solutions. Esteban’s work has been focused in endangered species conservation, he manages Nai Conservation, the Baird’s tapir program inside CRWF and the Baird’s Tapir Survival Alliance for Costa Rica. Through his work Esteban has been encouraging local communities to develop productive activities that allow them coexist with wildlife and supporting authorities on providing technical information to tackle down threats faced by wildlife. Esteban is alumni of the Zoological Society of London, member of the IUCN’s Tapir Specialist Group, conservation associate for Global Wildlife Conservation, member of the Board of Directors of Osa Conservation, and the youngest deputy of the Costa Rica’s Government National Wildlife Commission. He has experience working on wildlife conservation in Central America, South-East Asia and Europe. Esteban has lectured in distinguished institutions around America, Asia, United Kingdom, and Europe; and his work has been highlighted in several wildlife conservation documentaries. 

José is a biologist with a degree in zoology from the University of Costa Rica. In his thesis he investigated some ecological and demographic aspects of endemic mice of the Talamanca Mountain Range in Costa Rica. His main interest is science applied to the conservation of small mammal species, as well as environmental education to better understand and publicize the benefits offered by this important group of organisms. Although his interest group has always been wild mice, Jose accepted the challenge of researching the oncilla, a cat synonymous with predation on mice, upon learning of the particular conservation situation facing this unique species in the world. “Previously I have investigated the communities of mice in the highlands of the country in relation to the availability of food present in their habitat, understanding one of their main predators and the relationship they have in their habitat with their favorite prey will give me a broader view of the trophic dynamics that develops in these points of high endemism”. Jose currently coordinates Oncilla Conservation, the small cat conservation program of the Costa Rica Wildlife Foundation, where he researches and seeks to implement solutions to conserve the smallest and most endangered of Mesoamerican cats.

Jimmy Barrantes Madrigal is a tropical biologist graduated from the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica with a Master’s degree in Conservation and Wildlife Management from the same institution. He has worked as an independent consultant for management plans in protected areas and project management in biological corridors. In recent years he has developed research in the field of herpetofauna and invasive species. His area of interest is applied science focused on counteracting threats to wildlife with an emphasis on biological invasions. Currently, he collaborates with the National Commission on Invasive Alien Species of the National System of Conservation Area in Costa Rica (SINAC), he is the general coordinator of the thematic interest group on invasive species of the Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation. In addition, together with professionals from Latin America, he is one of the promoters to consolidate the Mesoamerican network on invasive alien species at the regional level.

Juan is a tropical biologist specializing in herpetology. He is a professor of naturalism for guides and has worked on amphibian and reptile research and conservation projects, mainly on threatened species. He currently works at SENASA, is a research associate at the National University and actively supports various research programs including the Tlaloc Conservation program focused on the conservation of threatened amphibians.