Curriculum vitae
Joan Gonzalvo Villegas
| |
Curriculum vitae Joan Gonzalvo Villegas |
|
Email: joan.gonzalvo(at)gmail.com
Education Ph.D. student, Marine Biology, University of Barcelona, Spain Diploma de Estudios Avanzados / Diploma of Advanced Studies (2003) BSc (Bachelor of Science) in Animal Biology, East London University, London, U.K. (1999) Scientific High School, La Salle Condal, Barcelona, Spain (1990)
Major professional interests * Cetacean ecology and behaviour
Professional affiliations 2007 - date Member of the Board of Directors, Tethys Research Institute
Languages Fluent in Catalan, Spanish, English and Italian. Good knowledge of Modern Greek.
Work experience March 2006 - date I am the co-principal investigator in charge of the Earthwatch Institute's "Dolphins of Greece" expedition (150+ volunteers have participated in this project so far). October 2008 - February 2009 During my consultancy period I gave a lecture on the status of cetaceans in the Mediterranean and the challenges of cetacean conservation in Syria at the "Awareness day on ACCOBAMS and marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea" organized by the Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife (SSCW). I also organised a meeting with the main actors of the Action Plan for Conservation of Cetaceans in Syria, to explore the best ways for its implementation. April, May and October 2008 March 2008 September 2005 - February 2006 January 2002 - September 2006 September 2000 - December 2001 Since July 1999 I have been regularly collaborating with the Tethys Research Institute in the context of a long-term study on the ecology, status and conservation of bottlenose dolphins and short-beaked common dolphins in eastern Ionian Sea coastal waters (Greece). Co-responsible for field data collection and coordinating the work of groups of paying volunteers. June 1998 - September 1998
Experience and skills Ten years of field work experience and involvement in different research and management projects have given me opportunities to practice a variety of data collection techniques and develop skills related to data handling and analysis, logistics, fundraising, administration and public relation work with local Authorities and stakeholders. I am experienced in research methods including ship-based, land-based and aerial surveys on cetaceans, individual photo-identification, behavioural sampling, remote biopsy sampling, cetacean dissection techniques and tissue sampling on stranded animals, preparation of biological samples for histological, toxicological, and genetic analyses. Excellent knowledge of software including ArcView GIS and image processing applications. Familiar with the use of pingers (acoustic deterrent devices), T-PODs (self-contained cetacean echolocation logger with signal processing software designed to detect porpoises or dolphins by their sounds) and with the design of their attachment and mooring systems. Professional use of equipment including digital cameras, hand-held computers for field data collection and navigation instruments. Holder of a no-limit nautical license. Experience operating boats up to 7m long in coastal and offshore waters. Skilled in boat and outboard engine upkeep. I participated in several campaigns on board professional fishing boats (artisanal fishing boats in the Balearic Islands and Ionian Greece, trawlers in Galicia and Balearic Islands). I am good at establishing friendly relationships with fishermen and have interviewed 300+ in the context of dolphin-fisheries studies conducted in the Balearic Islands, Ionian Greece, Gulf of Taranto (Italy), Syria and Lebanon. Experienced in designing and conducting public awareness actions including spoken presentations for general audiences. I gave more than 20 presentations in nautical clubs and fishermen associations in the Balearic Islands and I have held many meetings with Greek fishermen and their representatives. Since 2006 I established collaborations with local educators in Greece and carried out work with local schools to stimulate young students to care about dolphins and marine conservation (total audience: 2,000+ school children 6-18 years old). Over 10 years of experience as swimming instructor for people of different ages (from young children to the elderly) and with special needs (disabled children). I persuaded several companies that my research on cetaceans was worth being sponsored, obtaining support in kind from SACS (inflatable boats), Yamaha Marine (outboard engines), Psion Teklogix (handheld computers) and Kodak (film).
Projects carried out with GRUMM, University of Barcelona 1999-2002 Identification of Areas of Special Interest for the conservation of cetaceans in the Spanish Mediterranean - Northern Section (Catalonia and Balearic Islands). General Direction for the Conservation of Nature, Spanish Ministry for the Environment. 1999-2002 Actions for the conservation of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). General Direction for the Conservation of Nature, Spanish Ministry for the Environment. 2000-2002 Validation of retinol levels in dolphin's hypodermic fat as biomarker of contamination by PCBs. Spanish Ministry of Environment, Commission of Science and Technology. 2000-2002 Study to evaluate the utility of acoustic devices (pingers) as delusory method to avoid dolphin's interaction with artisanal fisheries". Council of Agriculture and Fisheries, Government of Balearic Islands. 2001-2004 Establishing a genetic and ecotoxicological tissue bank of endangered marine mammals in the Mediterranean. Pew Charitable Trusts, Boston, EEUU. 2001-2005 Monitoring the populations of Tursiops truncatus and Caretta caretta. Actions F-6 and F-7 of project LIFE 2000/NAT/E/7303 for the protection of Posidonia oceanica in Sites of Community Interest (SCIs) in the Balearic Islands. European Union, LIFE Programme. 2005-2006 Monitoring of the population of bottlenose dolphins in the coastal waters of the Ebro river Delta and Valencian adjacent waters, to evaluate the effects two off-shore wind farms would cause them". Project funded by Capital Energy S.A. with final report to Catalan and Valencian Governments.
Peer-reviewed publications Forcada J., Gazo M., Aguilar A., Gonzalvo J., Fernández-Contreras M. 2004. Bottlenose dolphin abundance in the NW Mediterranean: addressing heterogeneity in distribution. Marine Ecology Progress Series 275:275-287. Bearzi G., Agazzi S., Gonzalvo J., Costa M., Bonizzoni S., Politi E., Piroddi C., Reeves R.R. 2008. Overfishing and the disappearance of short-beaked common dolphins from western Greece. Endangered Species Research 5:1-12 Gazo, M., Gonzalvo, J., Aguilar, A. 2008. Pingers as deterrents of bottlenose dolphins interacting with trammel nets. Fisheries Research 92(1):70-75. Gonzalvo J., Valls M., Cardona L., Aguilar A. 2008. Factors ruling the interactions between common bottlenose dolphins and bottom trawlers off the Balearic archipelago (western Mediterranean). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 367(1):47-52.
Reports and Action Plans Gazo M., Forcada J., Aguilar A., Fernández-Contreras M., Borrell A., Gonzalvo J., Tornero V. 2004. Zonas de Especial Interés para la conservación de cetáceos en Cataluña y Baleares. Pp. 15-65 in: J.A. Raga, J. Pantoja (Eds.), Proyecto Mediterráneo: Zonas de Especial Interés para la Conservación de Cetáceos en el Mediterráneo Español. Ministerio Español de Medio Ambiente, Dirección General para la Biodiversidad. Book and DVD documentary on research techniques for cetacean studies. Gonzalvo J., Revelles M., Carreras C., Cardona L. 2005. Marine mammals and sea turtles in the Gulf of Sirte, Libya. Report to Environmental Resources Management (ERM). Group of Study and Conservation of Marine Mammals (GRUMM), University of Barcelona. 30 pp. Bearzi G., Gonzalvo J. 2006. Ecosystem structure and dolphin-fisheries interactions in a "natural laboratory": the Amvrakikos Gulf. Report to UNEP's Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) on the activities conducted between March-June 2006 (MOU #17/RAC/SPA/2005). 33 pp. Bearzi G., Agazzi S., Gonzalvo J., Bonizzoni S., Costa M., Petroselli A., Politi E. 2008. Ionian Dolphin Project. Kalamos area and Amvrakikos Gulf. Report on the activities conducted between July 1991 and September 2008 in the eastern Ionian Sea, Greece. Tethys Research Institute Report. 41 pp. Gonzalvo J., Bearzi G. 2008. Action Plan for the conservation of cetaceans in Syria. UNEP's Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC-SPA). Contract 39/2007_RAC/SPA. 45 pp. Gonzalvo J. 2008. Report on the Implementation of the National Action Plan for the Conservation of Cetaceans in Syria. Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), Monaco. Contract 16/2008. 11 pp. Gonzalvo J. 2009. Action Plan for the conservation of cetaceans in Lebanon. Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), Monaco. 42 pp.
Conference presentations and proceedings Gonzalvo J., Gazo M., Aguilar A. 2001. Distribution and school size patterns of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in northern Spanish Mediterranean waters. 15th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Rome, 6-10 May 2001. Gonzalvo J., Gazo M., Aguilar A. 2002. Distribution patterns of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off the Balearic Islands. 16th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Liege, 7-11 April 2002. Gonzalvo J., Aguilar A. 2003. A survey of the Balearic Islands population of bottlenose dolphins. 15th Biennial Conference of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, 14-19 December 2003. Gonzalvo J., Aguilar A. 2004. Photoidentification of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Balearic Islands. 18th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Kolmarden, Sweden, 28-31 March 2004. Bearzi G., Politi E., Agazzi S., Bruno S., Costa M., Bonizzoni S., Gonzalvo J. 2004. The short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) decline in eastern Ionian Sea coastal waters. (Oral presentation by Joan Gonzalvo). European Cetacean Society Workshop: Research on European Common Dolphins: Threats and Issues. 18th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Kolmarden, Sweden, 28-31 March 2004. Alvarez de Quevedo I., Gozalbes P., Agustí C., Gonzalvo J., Ferrer X., Raga J. A., Aguilar A. 2007. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) of planned offshore windfarms in the Mediterranean coast of Spain. 21st Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, San Sebastián, Spain, 22-25 April 2007. Gonzalvo J. 2007. Marine conservation as a common goal: the benefits of communication between marine biologists and artisanal fishermen. Pp. 15-16 in: D. Maldini, D. Meck Maher, D. Troppoli, M. Studer, J. Goebel (Eds.), Translating scientific results into conservation actions: new roles, challenges and solutions for 21st Century scientists. Earthwatch Institute, Maynard MA, USA. Gonzalvo J., Bearzi G., Agazzi, S., Piroddi C. 2008. Fisheries and the decline of short-beaked common dolphins in western Greece. 22nd Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands, 10-12 March 2008.
Invited participation in workshops and seminars 2007 Invited speaker, workshop "Translating scientific results into conservation actions: new roles, challenges and solutions for 21st Century scientists". Workshop held at the Earthwatch Institute Conference 1-3 March 2006, Boston MA, USA. 2007 Invited speaker, "The Ionian Dolphin Project. Studies on two populations of dolphins in the Eastern Ionian Sea coastal waters, Greece". 5 March at the New England Aquarium, Boston MA, USA. 2008 Invited speaker. "Conservation of coastal dolphins in the Eastern Ionian Sea". Lecture Dolphins across the Med organized by Earthwatch on the 27 March, at the Royal Geographical Society, London, U.K. 2008 Invited speaker by the Syrian Society for the Conservation of Wildlife (SSCW), at the Awareness Day on the Cetaceans and Marine Mammals in the Mediterranean. Event supported by ACCOBAMS. Oral presentation "The National Action Plan for the Conservation of cetaceans in Syria: why, what and how". 30 October, Tartous, Syria. 2008 Invited speaker. Workshop organized by ACCOBAMS and National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) on the implementation of the Agreement in Lebanon. Oral presentation "The National Action Plan for the Conservation of cetaceans in Lebanon". Event held on 5-6 November at the Ministry of Agriculture in Beirut, Lebanon.
Seminars, conferences and workshops attended 3rd European Seminar on Marine Mammals: Biology and Conservation, Universitat Internacional Manéndez Pelayo, Valencia, Spain, 11-15 September 2000 15th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Rome, Italy, 6-10 May 2001 Europhlukes Scientific Conference, Madeira, Portugal, 22-25 November 2002 Seminar: "Introduction to the use of Geographic Information Systems for the management of Natural Parks and Natural Reserves", Technologic Centre of Forestry of Catalonia, Solsona, Spain, 1-15 December 2002 16th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Liege, Belgium, 7-11 April 2002 15th Biennial Conference of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, Greensboro NC, USA, 14-19 December 2003 Workshop: "Applications of Geographic Information Systems on the research and management of cetacean populations", Greensboro NC, USA, 13 December 2003 Workshop: "Digital photography applied to the study of marine mammals", Society for Marine Mammalogy, Greensboro NC, USA, 13 December 2003 18th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Kolmarden, Sweden, 28-31 March 2004 Workshop: "Europhlukes and the application of photo-identification techniques", Kolmarden, Sweden, 27 March 2004 Workshop: "Research on European common dolphins: threats and issues", Kolmarden, Sweden, 31 March 2004 Workshop: "Translating scientific results into conservation actions: new roles, challenges and solutions for 21st Century scientists", Earthwatch Institute Conference, Boston MA, USA, 1-3 March 2006, 22nd Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society, Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands, 10-12 March 2008.
|