Juan de Dios Morales

Guayaquil

Juan de Dios Morales is the founder of the Wild GYE Initiative, which promotes Guayaquil’s biodiversity through photography and was awarded the best sustainable initiative of 2017 by the Municipality of Guayaquil, Ecuador. He received his M.Sc. in Environmental Management (Urban Ecology) at the University of Melbourne–Australia. He has worked on different environmental issues but mainly focuses on ecology, environmental management, communication, and education. His knowledge of ecological research, environmental policy and planning strategies, ecotourism, and project management was built during his B.Sc. in Applied and Marine Ecology at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito–Ecuador. With more than 8 years dedicated to nature and adventure photography, he has also become an environmental speaker, communicator, and environmental capacity-building leader. He has worked as a national naturalist guide and interpreter, as well as an environmental consultant. He has experience in different natural areas (South America, Asia, and Oceania) and directly collaborated with national and international NGOs. He believes in urban ecology, urban green spaces, and natural areas as a new way of connecting nature and citizens.