Hector Guzman is a staff marine biologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, with a B.Sc and M.Sc. from the University of Costa Rica and Ph.D. from Newcastle University, UK. He has over a hundred scientific publications and research interests in coral reef ecology, sclerochronology, coral taxonomy, coastal pollution, marine reserves planning, and conservation biology. His research has been used to support the declaration of MPA’s in Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama. During the last five years he has described over 20 new species of reef corals. He has served as Councilor for the International Coral Reef Society and currently serves in the Science Advisory Committee for Marine Reserves in Latin America and the Caribbean, and represents STRI in Panama as scientific advisor at the National Fishery Commission, the Coiba Scientific Committee and the Marine Corridor Commission.