Phillip Castillo ('Stumpy') – Night Watchman
Stumpy has worked for the research station for ~4 years. Before joining WCS he has worked as security in various capacities, following service for the Belize Defence Force. He maintains his hunting and farming traditions when not at the station, running a successful pig farm.
Roy Herrera ('Pa')– Night Watchman
Roy is Dangriga born and bred. He has been working at the station since 2005. He is half Guatemalan and used to be a fisherman. His favourite aspect of working at GRRS is sitting at the end of the dock on quiet morning, watching the sunrise.
Tyron Lambert ('Home Alone') – Dive Master & Electrician
Tyron is one of the newer members of the GRRS team, but is by no means a rookie to our reefs. He has been diving at the atoll for 2.5 years, working for various Glovers and mainland resorts. When not diving he is putting his electrician training to work, or playing striker for the Hopkins football team.
Yvette Montes - Cook
Yvette is GRRS’s newest staff member, but brings with her experience of having worked in some of Belize’s top tourist resorts. She is from the Hopkins Garifuna community, is married and has 5 children. Already famous for her innovative menu and fresh fruit juices!
Randolph Nunez ('Buck') - Boat Captain & Shift leader
Buck is originally from the Garifuna community in Hopkins, but is currently a resident of Dangriga. He has been a full time employee at the research station for 2 years, but has been involved in different capacities for WCS since 1999, specifically skippering boats for research groups. His favourite aspect of the job is working with the ‘Shark group’, in their catching and tagging of sharks around the atoll for investigation into home ranges and territory using telemetry. Buck is also a trained carpenter and qualified PADI Rescue Diver.
Pollin Requena - Caretaker
Pollin joined GRRS in 2007. He is from Hopkins Village and is as crucial a member of their football team as he to Middle Caye as a carpenter and handy man.
Rosinell Rodriguez ('Rose') – Cook
Rose has been a cook at the station since 2003. She is a resident of Dangriga, but originally hails from Punta Gorda in the southern Toledo district of Belize.
Dolores Sho (Dol) - Caretaker
Dolores is of Mayan descent and lives in Silk Grass village inland from Dangriga. He has worked at the station since 2004, and is known for his innovative approaches to upkeep of the island.
Alex Tilley - Station Manager
Alex has been managing GRMRS since August 07, having moved to WCS Belize from Mozambique where he was conducting research into Whale Shark population ecology.
He is currently proposing a PhD based at Glovers reef on stingray ecology, which he aims to carry out concurrently with continued management of the station.
Faygon Villanueva – Boat Captain & Shift Leader
Faygon still lives in his home town of Placencia. He is the longest serving member of the GRRS team, having been with us since 2002. He is a qualified dive master and an avid conservationist, getting involved whenever he can in the ongoing monitoring projects on the atoll. He is active in collecting data for the long term sea turtle and seagrass monitoring projects.
(Photos courtesy of A Carr III, A. Tilley D. Chapman & T. Galvan)