Us
Team
Leadership
Gustavo D. Danemann
Executive Director
A marine biologist with a master’s degree in Marine Ecology and a doctorate in Coastal Oceanography, specializing in Marine Resource Management. His doctoral thesis addresses the analysis of public policies and the administration of natural resources in the community of Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California, for which he won the award for Best Doctoral Dissertation in 2003 from the Association of Researchers of the Sea of Cortez (AIMAC). Gustavo has more than 30 years of professional experience in the conservation and administration of natural areas and resources, environmental management instruments, ichthyology, avifauna, and wetlands in northwestern Mexico. He has a special interest in Natural Protected Areas, fisheries, communication, and education, as well as being an academic and researcher with publications in specialized journals. His passion and commitment to nature conservation has driven the mission of the Pronatura Noroeste team for 25 years.
Daniela Acosta López
Director of Operations
A biologist from the Autonomous University of Baja California, specializing in Faunistic Resources. She has a Master of Science in the Use, Management, and Preservation of Natural Resources, with a focus on Ecology of Arid Zones. Daniela has collaborated in various reforestation projects, in payments for environmental services, and in the creation of Management and Use Units in conjunction with the National Forestry Commission. Since 2011, she has worked at Pronatura Noroeste, where she has worked as a field technician in reptile monitoring and a project coordinator at the regional level. In addition, she creates and manages legal tools for land conservation in northwestern Mexico, under which 265,000 hectares are legally protected through Pronatura Noroeste. Daniela has a special talent for processes, which she transfers to the Operations Department, thanks to her experience in the field.
Nohemí González Peña
Director of the Development Department
Has a degree in Industrial Chemistry with more than a decade of experience in transnational companies. She combines her profession with volunteering in the social sector, where she discovered a strong vocation for promoting non-profit organizations. In this work, she has had contact with organizations that seek common welfare and environmental improvement, a field that is becoming increasingly relevant throughout the world. Nohemí is specialized in the creation, strengthening, and sustainability of civil associations and organizations, as well as fundraising. In 2014, she ended her work with industry to focus entirely on the social sector. She currently contributes her vision and experience to Pronatura Noroeste as Director of Development Departament.
Fernando Ochoa Pineda
Legal Director
A lawyer for the Universidad Intercontinental de la Ciudad de México with a specialty in Environmental Laws and Policies from the Universidad en Estudios de Posgrado en Derecho. He has worked as a lawyer in a firm in the country’s capital. He has practiced and advised for 20 years for non-profit organizations working in land conservation, marine conservation, protection of endangered species, environmental policies, legal research, environmental human rights, environmental litigation, and climate change. He is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Northeast Environmental Defense (DAN) for the legal protection of ecosystems and wildlife.
At Pronatura Noroeste, Fernando has been our legal counsel for 20 years, in addition to being Co-coordinator of the land conservation program, which counts among its achievements the use of legal tools to protect public and private lands, in addition to Natural Protected Areas.
Jesús Ybarra
Administration and Human Resources Director
He is a Public Accountant graduated at the Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora and has a master’s degree in Administration and Finance from the same university. He has kept himself in constant professional development through diplomas in Human Management Processes, Development of Managerial Skills and Financial Extensionist.
Most of his professional history has been in management positions in companies such as Crece Sonora, Well Control Equipment, among others. All this has allowed him to strengthen his experience on business consolidation, strategic management, administrative and financial control, establishment of KPIS and safeguarding of corporate assets. It is precisely this vast experience in top management that makes him a strategic ally to achieve Pronatura Noroeste’s objectives.
Valeria Towns
Conservation Director
She is biologist graduated at the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) and is currently in the process of completing her PhD in Biological Sciences with a specialization in Ecology. For 9 years she was dedicated to strengthening conservation and sustainable development programs in the Lacandona Rainforest, as part of the NGO Natura y Ecosistemas Mexicanos A.C., where she led the Mammal Monitoring Program in the region.
From 2016 to 2019 she worked in the public service as Coordinator of Institutional Affairs and as Director of Priority Species for Conservation at the National Commission of National Protected Areas. She also served as coordinator of the “Program for the Conservation of the Vaquita Porpoise in the Upper Gulf of California” as part of the Whale Museum, where she addressed the Mexican porpoise issue from a perspective that included the development of alternative and profitable fisheries. Without a doubt, Valeria’s incorporation as Director of Conservation for Pronatura Noroeste strengthens the team in the face of the enormous environmental challenges in the region.
Regional Coordinators
RAQUEL CASTRO DÍAZ
Colorado River Delta
rcastro@pronatura-noroeste.org
SERGIO GONZÁLEZ CARRILLO
Baja California Sur
sgonzalezcarrillo@pronatura-noroeste.org
JUAN CARLOS LEYVA MARTÍNEZ
Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua and South of Sonora
jcleyva@pronatura-noroeste.org
Thematic Coordinators
Gabriela Caloca Michel,
Water and Rivers
gcaloca@pronatura-noroeste.org
Mariella Sáenz Chávez,
Natural Protected Areas
msaenz@pronatura-noroeste.org
Lizz González Moreno,
Conservation Education
lgonzalez@pronatura-noroeste.org
Geovanni Cordero Herrera,
Conservation Data Center
gcordero@pronatura-noroeste.org
Natalie Rodríguez Dowdell,
Bird Conservation
nrodriguez@pronatura-noroeste.org
Julián García Walther,
MOTUS Network
jgarciaw@pronatura-noroeste.org
Carlos Álvarez Flores,
Fishery Science
calvarez@pronatura-noroeste.org
Ricardo Juárez Salas,
Vigilance
rjuarez@pronatura-noroeste.org
Christian Morales Portillo,
Endangered Species
cmorales@pronatura-noroeste.org
Miguel Ángel Vargas,
Land Conservation
mvargas@pronatura-noroeste.org
Laura Elizabeth Ibarra García,
Sustainable Fisheries
libarra@pronatura-noroeste.org
Teams
Department of Administration and Human Resources
Francisco Amezcua Batres, Contador; Diana Soto Mercado, Nómina; Ricardo Patrón Castro, Administradora de Programas. Ariel Bojórquez Lugo, Sistemas e Informática.
Development Department
Saira Sandoval de Santiago, Coordinadora de Gestión de Donantes. Itsí Razo Saucedo, Creación de Contenidos, Javier Fernández Acévez, Escritor.
Ensenada, Baja California
Gabriela Ehuan, Proyectos de Mejora Pesquera; María Aquino Javier, Áreas Naturales Protegidas y Proyectos de Mejora Pesquera; Laura Ibarra, Conservación de Aves; Marco Carignán Palacios, Asesor Jurídico; Guillermo Olguín Espinoza, Gestión y Relación con Propietarios de Tierras; Xóchitl Rojas Lagunes y Liliana Esparza García, Sistemas de Información Geográfica; Édgar Nava García, Monitoreo Biológico; Paola Murrieta Olguín, Educación para la Conservación y Conservación de Tierras Privadas y Sociales; Daniel Portillo, Motus; Osvel Hinojosa Huerta, Asesor Científico, Sula Vanderplank, Asesora Científica; Cristina Vallejo Marchena, Administradora de Oficina; Cynthia Castruita Beltrán, Mantenimiento.
Bahía de los Ángeles, Baja California
Martha Cordero Rubio, Mantenimiento.
La Paz, Baja California Sur
Norma Sánchez Reyes, Áreas Naturales Protegidas; Belén Ojeda Villegas, Bases de Datos Pesqueros; Juan Carlos Castro Salgado, Pesquerías; Alejandro Torres Mendía, Vigilancia; Nallely Arce Villavicencio y Gerardo Marrón Méndez, Ecosistemas prioritarios terrestres; Roberto Carmona Piña, Asesor Científico; Mirtha Susana González, Administradora de oficina, Josefina Elizabeth Urías Félix, Mantenimiento.
San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora
Raquel Castro Díaz, Encargada de Oficina; Yuliana Dimas Granillo, Involucramiento Comunitario; Alejandra Calvo Fonseca, Monitoreo Biológico; Stefanny Villagómez Palma, Juan Butrón Méndez, José Juan Butrón Rodríguez, Ángel Butrón Rodríguez, Carlos Medina Cruz y Benito Rocha Brambila, Técnicos de Monitoreo; Moisés Arano Terrones, Armando Solorio Vázquez, Jorge Castañeda Cortez, Luis Romero Villaseñor, Gabriel Alaniz Duran, Ángel Basquez García, Carlos Armando Solorio Vázquez, Salvador Solorio Vázquez, Francisco Castillo Tapia, Javier Martínez Figueroa, y Cristhian García Vázquez; Dilan Noe Ortiz Lizárraga, Rubén Reina Gaxiola,Técnicos de Campo en Sitio de Restauración Miguel Alemán; David Parra Lugo, Administrador; Carmen Félix Torres, Mantenimiento.
Culiacán, Sinaloa
Rosa Benítez López, Fernando Lizárraga Ramos, Jesús Iván Guardado, Conservación de Aves, Alejandra de Jesús Gastelum, Luis Mendoza Contreras, Ecosistemas prioritarios terrestres; Fernando Castellanos Tapia, Técino de Campo; Administración, Santiaga Salomón López, Mantenimiento.
Tepic, Nayarit
Carlos Gilberto Torrescano Castro, Mejora Pesquera; José Alberto Rodríguez Madrigal, Áreas Naturales Protegidas; Técnico de ANP; Édgar Fregoso Rodríguez, Sistemas e Informática; Cristina Sanabia Olivarría, Administradora de Oficina; Ana Flores Lomelí, Mantenimiento.
