Juan Carlos Castilla, Ph.D.

Research

Juan Carlos Castilla is an emeritus professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Castilla used his Pew award to foster sustainable use of benthic marine resources through community-based management approaches that give exclusive administration of coastal “preserves” to local, small-scale fishery communities. Specific projects included: monitoring of shellfisheries and the expansion of co-management schemes; study of ecological resource enhancement and restocking processes; production of the Guidebook on the Chilean Rocky Intertidal Shores; and expansion of the Las Cruces Coastal Preserve experience to northern Chile. As a result of his Pew project, Castilla developed a public-private partnership at Antofagasta to involve local industry in marine conservation. With success in that experiment, he launched additional studies in central and northern Chile in connection with the establishment of a network of marine parks and preserves that involve private corporate support and active participation in the effort. Castilla is currently focused on marine ecology, marine conservation, and socioecology in coastal zones, management of coastal resources and small-scale fisheries, and marine education. One of his main lines of research refers to the structure and dynamics of rocky intertidal and nearshore systems and the key ecological role played by humans. He has been interested in the establishment of marine parks and preserves in Chile and Latin America. And he continues to be interested in coastal management regarding littoral resources via the implementation of Territorial User Rights for Fisheries in Chile.

To learn more about Castilla, visit his bio online: http://www.ecim.cl/people/castilla.