Luis F. Aguirre

Dr. Luis F. Aguirre, "together with M. Isabel Galarza, is co-coordinator for the Bolivian Bat Conservation Program of BIOTA (one of the four major programs at Centro de Estudios en Biologia Teorica y Aplicada, BIOTA). Dr. Aguirre received his Ph.D. in Science from Antwerp University, Belgium and is currently a researcher and professor at the Center for Biodiversity and Genetics at the Universidad Mayor de San Simon in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

"Dr. Aguirre is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Bat Conservation International and has participated in several congresses and courses related to bat conservation. In 2005 he was given the Development Cooperation Award by the Belgian Cooperation Program and in 2006 he received the Oliver P. Person Award from the American Society of Mammalogists as an outstanding young Latin American mammalogist.

"He has published over 30 scientific articles and is a member of the Network of Educators of Conservation Biology (AMNH) and of the IUCN Chiropteran Specialist Group. Dr. Aguirre also serves as associate editor of Acta Chiropterologica, Mastozoologia Neotropical, Revista Boliviana de Ecologia and Ecologia en Bolivia. He is a reviewer for several international scientific journals including Conservation Biology, Biotropica, Acta Chiropterologica, Ecography, Journal of Tropical Ecology and Journal of Mammalogy. Since 2005, he has been president of the Asociacion Boliviana de Investigadores de MamÃ­feros (ABIMA) and since 2006 is an Adjunct Researcher at CERC, Columbia University in New York.

"Dr. Aguirre is dedicated to promoting the conservation of Bolivian biodiversity and ecosystems though education and research activities. He leads BIOTA researchers in studying how human activities are affecting bat species assemblage and the ecological processes and general biodiversity of endangered tropical montane forest systems.

"BIOTA is a new member of the Wildlife Trust Alliance, a growing network of science-based international conservation organizations."


 * Whitley Fund for Nature: Award Winners