Yasmin QUINTANA

Yasmin Quintana serves as the manager of the Center for Species Survival: Freshwater at Shedd Aquarium. 

She has a Ph. D. in Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M University. Previously,  a M. Sc. in Interdisciplinary Ecology with concentration in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from the University of Florida, and a B. S. in Biology from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. Her interests are in ecology, conservation, and management of aquatic ecosystems. Specifically, she is interested in fish ecology and fisheries management. She led several research projects to study fish assemblages and their environmental drivers in several systems in Guatemala (e.g. Lake Izabal, Lake Peten Itza, and Lake Atitlan, Río San Pedro, Río La Pasión, estuaries in Monterrico and Manchón Guamuchal). Yasmin also coordinated a binational project with ECOSUR in México to conduct an ichthyological survey in the Grijalva-Usumacinta River Complex. She also has done work on stock assessment and fisheries monitoring in Río Dulce, Sipacate, and Monterrico in Guatemala, Cedar Key in Florida, and the continental area of Equatorial Guinea in África.

Quintana worked as a biological scientist and Wildlife Director at the Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (CONAP) in Guatemala, where she teamed up with other scientists to build the Estrategia Nacional de Diversidad Biológica y su Plan de Acción (Resolución 01-16-2012)”. One of her roles in CONAP was to be an advisor to the Executive Secretary on topics such as the Pacific “Ecological or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs)” for the Convention on Biological Diversity and for projects funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).