About Us
Who are we?
We are "old hands", with deep links to the history of marine science and exploration in the region-- a team of expert naturalists, explorers, and scientists, each with many decades of experience in the Galápagos and the eastern Pacific. We believe our extensive practical knowledge and long experience are unique assets and fill a unique niche in the web of regional marine conservation organizations. We are developing and coordinating a diverse set of projects, each of which benefits greatly from the synergy of being under the umbrella of a combined two centuries worth of knowledge and experience. Our aim is to promote scientific advances, develop conservation strategies, and help educate the public.
Jack Stein Grove
In 1975, at age 24, Jack hoisted sail for the first time in the Pacific Ocean. His life was about to be forever changed. An undergraduate at the Univ. of West Florida, hired on as a deckhand on a sailing vessel, he had begun his study of fishes, bound for the Galápagos! Since that adventure, Jack has been active in conservation and research for more than 40 years, employed as a naturalist, dive master, and expedition leader in Galápagos for decades, Jack has explored many of the most remote regions of the world’s oceans. For 7 years, he lived aboard the ship Bucanero in Galápagos as a Research Associate at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History and the Instituto Nacional de Pesca in Guayaquil- his work culminating in the seminal book "The Fishes of the Galápagos Islands" published in 1997, and to date the only comprehensive book on the fishes of the Archipelago. Subsequently, he has been scientific advisor and naturalist aboard numerous visting boats and mega yachts. Today, Dr. Grove’s dedication to conservation, education, and research continues in his role as Executive Director of the EPCA.
Richard Cahill
Born and raised in Panama, Rich is a seasoned naturalist and expedition leader. Over 30 years, he has organized groups and traveled throughout Latin America . A pioneer in the ecotourism industry of Panama, he is a passionate fishing guide. In 1996, Rich cofounded Ancon Expeditions, and he is also cofounder and owner of Panama Canal Fishing and Panama Tarpon Conservation. A well known bilingual lecturer in the region, Rich's mission is to educate the general public and promote awareness of the critical threats facing both freshwater and marine ecosystems of Panama and the broad Eastern Tropical Pacific Corridor. He is a cofounder and inaugural Board Member of the EPCA.
Fernando Rivera
Fernando is an Ecuadorian marine biologist, with a track record of over 38 years in his field. His specialty is subtidal biodiversity, of continental Ecuador, as well as the Galápagos Islands and far flung reefs in Micronesia. Since 1985, when he collaborated with Peter Glynn in the study of the effects of 1982/83 El Niño on corals in Galápagos, he has conducted extensive baseline studies on fish and corals in the Archipelago and contributed to the establishment of Marine Protected Areas along Ecuador's coast and the Galapagos Marine Reserve. He has been staff at the Charles Darwin Foundation and recently the executive director of the Nazca Institute for Marine Research. Fernando is the focal scientist for the coral studies node of the Tropical Eastern Pacific for Ecuador at the Global Coral Reef Network. He obtained his Marine Biology degree from the University of Guayaquil and did his graduate studies at the University of Guam and the University of Melbourne: he contributes an in-depth understanding of fish and coral populations in the Galápagos and along the Ecuadorian coastline and experience in conducting baseline studies, seabed mapping, formulating management plans for Marine Protected Areas, and conducting environmental impact studies within marine ecosystems.
Fiddi Angermeyer
Fiddi Angermeyer, is a Galápagos original. Born and raised in the islands, he acquired his boat-building skills firsthand from his father Fritz, who sailed with his three brothers from Germany in the 1930s. Fiddi Angermeyer is considered a genuine pioneer of the Island's charter industry, with an emphasis on eco-tourism and promoting preservation of the unique fauna and flora of the islands.
Benjamin Victor
Ben is a fish taxonomist; originally from South Africa, he got his PhD from the Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, studying the population biology of the bluehead wrasse in Panama. His subsequent research focused on tropical marine fish larvae and daily otolith aging. As the emerging DNA-sequencing technology exploded, he applied DNA barcoding to identify species. That led to his work on fish taxonomy. He has described more than 75 new fish species, many working closely with Jack Randall, the late towering figure in tropical fish biology. On many visits to Galápagos over more than 30 years, he has discovered and described new endemic species of razorfish, flatfish, and scorpionfish. His long-time collaborator was the late Gerry Wellington: a legend in Galápagos history, having developed the original plan for the Park in the 1970s. Most recently, he is collating the DNA barcodes for all shorefish species in the tropical eastern Pacific and Greater Caribbean. In addition, Ben has an MD (UC Irvine & Stanford University) and is a board-certified pathologist, a career he managed to squeeze in between research trips. Find downloadable publications at http://www.coralreeffish.com/publications.html
Douglas Long
As a kid growing up in coastal southern California, Douglas spent most of his free time fishing, hiking, and beachcombing, in addition to his after-school job in a fish taxidermy studio. He later earned several degrees, including a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, focusing on the deep-time ecological and environmental evolution of sharks in the northeastern Pacific. Douglas's early experience in the Galápagos Islands was as a researcher at the California Academy of Sciences, where he co-authored descriptions of several newly discovered species of sharks, rays, and bony fishes collected during deepwater expeditions around the archipelago. A short time later, Douglas became the collections manager and eventually Curator of Ornithology and Mammalogy at the C.A.S. where he cared for one of the largest and historically important collections of Galápagos birds. He has co-led 14 educational tours of the Galápagos Islands, and, as a university professor, Douglas has taught courses in oceanography, marine biology, ichthyology, marine mammalogy, evolution, and conservation. His expertise on elasmobranchs and deepwater fishes provides the backbone for a truly deep dive into expanding the purview of the book to the important realm of seamounts and rifts around Galápagos.