Research Experience
• Fleet dynamics assessment: Analysis of fleet dynamics and fishing effort of Small-scale multi-species and multi-gear fisheries related to bentho-demersal resources on Costa Rican´s northern pacific coast. Assessment of fisheries fleet components: fishing effort allocation, fishing power and efficiency, fleet size, bycatch and discard
• Quantitative fisheries stocks assessment: Fisheries biology assessment of bento-demersal species (lobster fisheries in Costa Rica). Quantitative stock assessment and fishing gears
• Fisheries ecology: Ecological relationships of fisheries target species: reproductive aggregations, migration, trophic relationships, etc
• Fisheries Bioeconomics: Bio-economic analysis of lobster fisheries. Cost-benefits analysis in fisheries
• Integrated Management of Coastal Fisheries: Ecosystems approach to fisheries and its adaptation within pre-existing management frameworks (i.e community based management, comanagement). Feasibility analysis and development of management tools for fisheries (i.e territorial property rights, community market for conservation, zoning, management strategy evaluation, ecological risk assessment, stock enhancement among others)
• Emerging approach of Socio-ecological systems for fisheries sustainability. Recognition of relations, interactions and feedbacks between the social and the ecological dimensions of fisheries systems in order to strengthen resilience. Research issues in socio-ecological systems: external drivers of change, socio-ecological traps, and diagnostic approaches
• Social Approaches in fisheries. Socio-cultural aspects analysis and their influence in fishing effort allocation and fishers´ behavior in order to include the human dimension in fisheries management. Communities’ dynamics in fisheries contexts: research methods in anthropology of fishing communities
• Predicting and projecting future changes on the ocean and their impacts on human societies: Modelling changes in the ecological dimension of marine and coastal environments and their effects on human society. Modelling and predicting the effects of anthropogenic activities on marine and coastal environments
• Management Approaches for Marine and Coastal Environments: Participatory Approaches (e.g. Community-based Management, Co-management), Integrated Coastal Zone Management, Ecosystem Approach, Ecosystem Services, Socio-ecological Resilience, Adaptive Governance, and Regime Shifts.
• Management Tools for Marine and Coastal Environments: Property Rights, Indicators, Scenario-based Modeling Tools, Ecosystem Services Valuation and Modeling, Ecological and Economic Risk Assessment, Reference Points, Tipping Points, Thresholds Detection, Zoning (MPAs, Spatio-temporal closures), Remote Sensing, Precautionary Approach, etc.
• Integrative Research for Marine and Natural Resources: Trans and Interdisciplinary Research. Inclusion of Expert Knowledge and Interest Groups into Integrative Research Processes. Planning and Designing Integrative Research Projects.
Governance: identification of mechanisms and processes that affects articulations of institutions and stakeholders to exercise their rights and meet their obligations.