Bio-Sketch
Dr. Carlos F. Mena is the Founding Director of the USFQ Institute of Geography and Founding Co-Director of the Galapagos Science Center. Carlos F. Mena is Professor of Geography in the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences at USFQ and Adjunct Professor of Geography at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also Founding Member of the Ecuadorian Association of Geographers, and he is an elected member of the Ecuadorian Academy of Sciences. Carlos F. Mena obtained his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA and has been conducting research in the Amazon and Galapagos Islands for more than twenty years.
Since 2010, Carlos F. Mena co- created, developed, and leads the Galapagos Science Center (GSC), in association with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The GSC is an interdisciplinary research center on San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Archipelago of Ecuador for the advancement of science, conservation, and sustainable development of the Galapagos and Ecuador. The GSC is an administrative, logistical, and scientific structure designed to promote research, education, and community development in the Galapagos Islands. The GSC, dedicated in 2011 and ~2200m2 in size, houses four unique laboratories: terrestrial ecology, marine ecology, micro- and molecular-biology, spatial analysis, and has spaces for community events and classrooms. GSC develops more than 60 projects per year, working with more than 40 principal investigators, and has a permanent staff of 16 people. Mena also co-created and manages the International Galapagos Science Consortium, a network of international universities, that develops research projects in the Galapagos Islands through the Galapagos Science Center. The consortium now includes James Cook University and the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia as well as the University of South Alabama and North Carolina State University, beginning January 2023., USA.
The USFQ Institute of Geography (USFQ-IG), created by Carlos F. Mena in 2016, is an interdisciplinary space at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito to foster geographic research and education in Ecuador. It employs eight full time spatial analysts and encompasses 14 projects developed in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon and the Choco region of Ecuador.
Carlos F. Mena has won several prestigious academic honors, including, the Earth Systems Science Fellowship from the US National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA), the pre-Doctoral Traineeship from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Fogarty International Center, and the Anne U. White Fund Grant from the Association of American Geographers (AAG). Mena is co-editor of the book series “Social and Ecological Interactions in the Galapagos Islands,” published by Springer Science and Business Media, now Springer Nature, with ten volumes in print. Carlos F. Mena has authored and co-authored more than 60 peer review publications (papers and book chapters) and has co-edited three books.
Through a portfolio of research projects, his research has covered topics of coupled human-environment systems, demography and environment, remote sensing and geographic information science, complex adaptive systems, population geography, conservation of tropical forests, political ecology, citizen science, climate change, and community development. Carlos Mena’s research has been funded by organizations, such as, USAID, US Department of State, the US National Academy of Sciences, and International Organizations, such as, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Inter-American Institute for Global Change, the Ecuadorian Government, among others. Currently, Mena has been awarded a grant to assemble a Latin American HUB to study the second order effects of the COVID19 pandemics, funded by the US State Department and the Association of American Geographers.
EDUCATION
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
Ph.D., Geography, 2007.
Graduate Certificate in International Development, 2006.
Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
M.Sc., Environmental Studies, 2001
Escuela Politécnica del Ejército, Quito, Ecuador
Geographic and Environmental Engineer, 1999.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador.
Professor, School of Biology and Environmental Sciences, 2008-Present.
Director, USFQ Campus in the Galapagos Islands, 2021-Present.
Co-Director, Galapagos Science Center, 2010-Present.
Director, USFQ Institute of Geography, 2016-Present.
Director, Graduate Program in Tropical Ecology, 2009, 2014-2015.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Post-Doctoral Researcher, Department of Geography, Fall 2007.
Teaching Fellow, Department of Geography, Fall 2006.
Research Assistant, Department of Geography & Carolina Population Center, 2002-2007.
Florida International University.
Research Assistant, Andean Amazon Rivers Analysis and Management Project (AARAM), 2000-2002.
EcoCiencia, Fundación de Estudios Ecológicos. Quito, Ecuador.
Geographical Analyst, 1998-1999.
SELECTED RECOGNITION & RESPONSIBILITIES
▪ Recognition Award, 10-Years Anniversary of the Galapagos Science Center, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, 2022.
▪ Board Member, Tiputini Biodiversity Station, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, 2019 – 2024.
▪ Member, Science Panel for the Amazon: a scientific panel to advise The United Nations in topics related to the Amazon Basin. Sustainable Development Solutions Network & Academia Brasileira de Ciencias. 2019-2021.
▪ International Advisor, Board of Directors. The International Institute of Social Studies at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands. 2019.
▪ Leading Author, IPCC Special Report on “Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems”. Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change – IPCC. 2017-2019
▪ Leading Author, Assessment on Adaptation Actions to Climate Change in the RIOCC Countries. Iberoamerican Network of Climate Change Offices. 2017
▪ Founding Member, Ecuadorian Association of Geographers, 2016
▪ National Association of Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA), Association of International Educators. Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for the Galapagos Initiative collaborative partnership between UNC-Chapel Hill and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and the development of the Galapagos Initiative (CF Mena & SJ Walsh, Program Founders & GSC Co-Directors), 2016
▪ Elected Member, 2014. Board 2019-2020. Ecuadorian Academy of Sciences, 2014
▪ Journal of Geography Award. Best paper in Geographical Education. US National Council for Geographical Education. 2015.
Member, Steering Committee 2008-2010. International Geographic Union, Land Use and Land Cover Commission.
▪ Earth Systems Science Fellowship. US National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), 2004-2007
▪ Pre-Doctoral Traineeship. NIH Fogarty International Center – Carolina Population Center, 2002-2004
▪ Anne U. White Fund Grant. Association of American Geographers, 2006
▪ Residency Grant. Mellon Foundation – Carolina Population Center, 2005
▪ Future Faculty Fellowship. UNC Center for Teaching and Learning, 2006
▪ Pre-Dissertation Fieldwork Award. UNC Institute Latin American Studies – The Tinker Foundation, 2004
▪ NSF-IGERT Travel Grants. IGERT Program. Carolina Population Center – National Science Foundation, 2004-2007
▪ Latin America and Caribbean Scholarship, Florida International University, 2000-2001
Carlos Fernando Mena Mena
Co-Director Galápagos GSC.
Director Instituto de Geografía, Instituto de Geografía.
Director Sede Galápagos.
Especialista en análisis territorial y cambio ambiental, con trabajo en los Andes y la Amazonía.