LAGA CONSULTANCIES - Key Persons
Dario Delgado, M.E. (Sanitary Engineering) is a sanitary engineer and Panamanian national. He graduated with his Masters in Engineering from Tulane University and served as the Director of the Department of Environmental Health of Panama's Ministry of Health for a number of years. From 1984 to 1998 he was the representative of the Minister of the Environment in the National Commission on the Environment, a presidential advisory committee.
Hortensia Broce, M.S. (Environmental Science) is an environmental scientist and Panamanian national. She received her M.S. degree at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York, Syracuse. From 1984 to 1989 she was a Terrestrial Ecosystems Specialist in the Secretariat of the National Commission on the Environment of Panama. She worked with the Panama Canal Commission for a number of years as an Environment/Energy Control Specialist (1989 to 1999) and as an Environmental Specialist (1999 to 2015).
Jorge E. Illueca, Ph.D. (Environmental History) is the President of LAGA and a Panamanian national. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Ph.D. in History, specializing in Environmental History. He has worked professionally on sustainable development and environmental issues at the national and international levels for 42 years. He was the Assistant Executive Director of the Division of Environmental Management (1995-1998) and the Division of Environmental Conventions (1998-2002) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. From 1996 to 1998 he was the organization's Managing Director. Before moving to UNEP, he was the Executive Director of Panama's National Commission on the Environment (1984-1989). Earlier he was an Assistant Professor at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and taught at Los Angeles City College (LACC).
Juan Alberto Manelia, Lic. (Agricultural Economics) is the Vice-President of LAGA and a Panamanian national. He studied Economics at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico before completing post-graduate studies at the Chapingo Autonomous University, Mexico's most prestigious center for agricultural studies. Early in his career he worked at Panama's Agricultural Development Bank (BDA), before moving over to the Secretariat of the National Commission on the Environment as its Administrator. Subsequently, he was hired as a professional officer in the Central American Commission on Maritime Transportation (COCATRAM), a specialized agency of the Central American Integration System (SICA). Juan is a renowned coffee grower from Boquete whose coffee won first place in a food and beverage contest in London in 2017.
Mahendra L. Joshi, Ph.D., a national of Nepal, has extensive experience in forest management and policy. He received his Ph.D. in Forest Resources Policy and Economics from Auburn University in Alabama. He has an M.S. degree in Forest Resources Economics from the University of Minnesota, as well as a Diploma in Forestry (AIFC) from the Indian Forest College in Dehra Dun, India. After working on forestry issues in Nepal for almost two decades, he worked in the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) Secretariat from 1998 to 2000 and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat from 2000 to 2014 where he rose to Senior Programme Officer and Chief of the Scientific and Technical Issues Unit. Earlier in his career, he was a forest officer in the Nepalese Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MFSC) where he held various progressively responsible managerial positions.
Job Titles:
- ADMINISTRATOR
- Journalist / Writer / Editor
Marti Colley, (journalist/writer/editor) is the Administrator of LAGA and a British national. She received her B.A. in French from the University of Warwick followed by a post-graduated diploma in Journalism from City University, London, United Kingdom. She started her career as a journalist contributing articles to The Times of London, The Sunday Times (London), Africa Analysis (London), Coffee and Cocoa International, and the Diners Club magazine, among others. She later became the Editor of two United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) periodical publications: the Desertification Control Bulletin and GRID Newsletter, and also edited a number of technical UNEP publications. She was also the editor and co-author of a joint publication of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and UNEP on the scientific findings of the Tropical Forest Canopy Biodiversity Programme. In addition, she has been the owner and manager of a dairy farm in western Panama employing best agricultural and best environmental practices.
Omar Vidal, M.S. (Marine Biology) is a marine biologist and naturalized Mexican born in Colombia. He graduated with an M.S. degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Advanced Studies (ITESM), Mexico. From 1995 to 2002 he was a professional officer in UNEP's marine and freshwater programme during which time he played a critical role in the negotiation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA). He served as Acting Director of the GPA Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya, from 1997 to 1999 and as the Deputy Coordinator from 1999 to 2001 in The Netherlands and Bahrain. From 2003 to 2017, he was the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Director General for México and the Mesoamerican Reef (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras). He has led large marine, forest, freshwater, climate and biodiversity programs at the national, regional and international level, and has been a consultant for Conservation International, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, the United Nations Forum on Forests and the International Union for Conservation of Nature on sustainable use of marine resources, mangroves and protected areas.
Roderick Tedman, B.Ch.E. (Chemistry) and M.B.A. is a chemist, legal assistant and citizen of both Panama and Canada. He has a Bachiller in Chemical Engineering (B.Ch.E.) from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and is currently studying law at the Latin University of Panama. He undertook post-graduate studies in biochemical engineering at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He is also a farmer and businessman with a Master in Business Administration (M.B.A.) from the Central American Institute for Business Administration (INCAE) in Costa Rica, and has over 40 years' experience working in agroindustry.
Job Titles:
- Policy Analyst, Planner and Writer
Vijay Kumar Samnotra (environmental policy analyst, planner and writer) is an Indian national graduated with a Masters degree in English Literature from St. Stephens' College, University of Delhi. Early in his career he assisted the Ministers of Environment and Forests on issues ranging from the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances to the administration and oversight of the Indian Forest Service cadre. He joined UNEP in October 1993 as the speech writer of the Executive Director. From March 2001 to June 2005 he directed the organization's Interlinkages and Synergies Unit in the Division of Environmental Conventions. Commencing in June 2005, he was charged with a number of responsibilities in the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, including serving as Chief of the Division's Programme Support Unit from July 2007 to May 2016. He established and directed UNEP's Country Office in India from May 2016 to 30 September 2017.
Walter Rast, Ph.D. (Environmental Science) is a limnologist and US national. He graduated from the University of Texas, Dallas with a Ph.D. in Environmental Science with specializations in integrated watershed management, and lake limnology and aquatic chemistry. From 1983 to 1992, he was a Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). He was a senior professional officer at UNEP from 1993 to 1999, serving as the Chief of the Freshwater Unit (1993-1995) and the Deputy Director of the Water Branch (1996-1998). Post-UNEP, from 2002 to 2015 he was a Professor in the Department of Biology at Texas State University, San Marcos. He has also served at this institution as the Fellow and Director of International Watershed Studies in the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.