Lauren SpurrierSusana CardenasSusana Cárdenas is an ecologist and natural resource economist currently working as full-time professor, researcher and Co-Director of the Institute of Applied Ecology at Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador. She got her PhD in Ecology at UC Davis, it is a candidate MSc in Natural Resource Economics at UC Davis, and has an undergraduate degree in Finance and Economics at USFQ. Her long-term research goal is to integrate ecology, economics and environmental policy to promote sustainable development and management of key conservation areas. Currently, her research is focused on two main topics: a) application of ecological modeling and economic valuation methods to the conservation of marine endangered species and ecosystem services, and b) tourism economics and monitoring of island ecosystems and protected areas. During the last 15 years, both research topics have been developed mainly in the Galapagos Islands working together with research and public institutions. Susana co-led the scientific team that analyzed and presented the proposed scenarios that inform the Ecuadorian government decision to declare the new open-water Hermandad Marine Reserve in 2022.Robert WearyMr. Weary is the Founder and CEO of Aqua Blue Investments, a company that focuses on impact investment opportunities to improve ocean health and climate adaptation and mitigation. He recently helped to structure and finance a debt conversion for Ecuador to support the expansion of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Prior to this, Rob worked for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for nearly twenty-two years, leading an initiative to assist Small Island Developing States and coastal countries, using the issuance of Blue Bonds, to finance debt-conversions to fund marine conservation and ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change. The first such debt conversion was concluded in February 2016 with the Seychelles. He has over 20 years’ experience structuring and financing debt-conversions and establishing Conservation Trust Funds across the globe in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa. Prior to working with the Conservancy, Rob worked in the World Bank’s Investment Management Department in the Treasury. He also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, working with indigenous subsistence level farmers on improved seed selection and post-harvest management. Rob holds a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a Master’s Degree in Public and International Affairs, with a focus on Social and Economic Development, with a Certificate in Latin American Studies, from the University of Pittsburgh. Aqua Blue Investments representing the Ocean Finance Company.