Rafael has a Bachelor’s degree in Forestry and PhD in Natural Resources Management. He has worked as a researcher for the National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research and served as the Director of the National Center for Forest Ecosystems Conservation and Management in Mexico. He teaches courses in GISscience and technology, environmental science, and sustainability in natural resources management. His research concentrates on fragmentation and estimation of anthropogenic pressure on the forest areas (most recently in Mexico and Costa Rica), Decision Support Systems for Forest Management, and the use of Geospatial Open Source Software for creating local and Web-based spatial information systems.

Research and Expertise:

• Natural resources management
• Land use planning
• Sustainable development and
• Geographic information science and technology including the use of Open Source Software and Web-based GIS