Mauricio Hoyos Padilla

Vicepresident, Board of Directors

Dr. Mauricio Hoyos is the Director and Co-founder of Pelagios Kakunjá. Among his main lines of research are nursery areas, reproduction, movement patterns and habitat use, ecology and behavior of sharks. Based in La Paz, he has studied several species of sharks in different parts of the world: Guadalupe Island, the Gulf of California, the Revillagigedo Archipelago, Playa del Carmen, Cancun and Isla Mujeres (Mexico), Clipperton (France), Coco Island (Costa Rica), Malpelo (Colombia), Los Roques (Venezuela) and British Virgin Islands (England). He has studied sharks since 1998 and is part of the scientific committee of several marine reserves in Mexico. Dr. Hoyos has been active in outreach and education on shark conservation, giving around 300 talks to groups as young as elementary school children, as well as high school and university students. During his career, he has received several awards for his work in the conservation and protection of sharks: Mexican Leader-Leaders of the Future Club, Golden Diver 2017-Cozumel Scuba Fest, Researcher of the Year 2018-Fins Attached, Sea Hero 2018-Scuba Diving Magazine and Shark Guardian 2022-Shark Project International. He has been scientific advisor to several documentaries for international networks such as National Geographic (6), Discovery Channel (7), Japan Underwater Films (1), IMAX (1), Natural History New Zealand (1), Bionne Pioche Television (1) and national networks such as Televisa (3) and Canal Once TV-Mexico (8). Dr. Hoyos is a Member of the National System of Researchers of Mexico, level I. He has also published 80 articles in peer-reviewed international scientific journals, 4 book chapters, 1 book, and  4 manuals of good practices in marine protected areas.