Representative
Brief info
For over twenty-five years, Nicole has dedicated her career to species and ecosystem research, protected areas creation and management, policy reform, and public outreach in her home country, Belize. Since 2016, she has served as the Country Director for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Belize, overseeing national goals related to the protection and sustainable use of Belize’s marine and terrestrial species and habitats.
Her work supporting a dynamic local team at WCS includes backing policy development for sustainable fisheries and endangered species trade, conducting biodiversity assessments, marine protected area expansion and effective management, combatting wildlife trafficking, and most recently using nature-based solutions to adapt to our changing climate while building understanding of communities’ gender disparities and local traditions.
Nicole has played a pivotal role in establishing and promoting Antillean manatee species and habitat protection starting from 1996 at the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute, then leveraging these achievements to inspire similar initiatives across the region. From 2013 to 2015, Nicole was the Executive Director of the Southern Environmental Association, an NGO based in southern Belize, focusing on protecting two amazing marine protected areas in southern Belize.
Nicole holds the position of Mesoamerican Region Co-Chairperson for the IUCN SSC Sirenian Specialist Group. She is Belize’s first Whitley Award winner (2005), an alumna of the WWF/Russell E. Train Education for Nature Program (2001), and an Organization of American States fellow. She earned her Master of Science degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from Texas A&M University in 2003.