The Glovers Reef Research Station Team
Phillip Castillo ('Stumpy') – Security
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')– Security
Roy is Dangriga born and bred. He has been working at the station since 2005. Before moving into security, Roy was a boat captain and fisherman. His favourite aspect of working at GRRS is sitting at the end of the dock on quiet morning, watching the sunrise, knowing all is safe and secure.
Yvette Montes - Catering
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 Supervisor
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 - Grounds & Maintenance
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') – Catering
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) - Grounds & Maintenance
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 & Resident Scientist
Alex has been managing GRMRS since August 2007, having moved to WCS Belize from Mozambique where he was conducting research into Whale Shark population ecology.
He is currently carrying out fieldwork at Glovers Reef for his PhD, looking at ecological function & spatial dynamics of Southern stingrays.
Faygon Villanueva – Boat Captain & Shift Supervisor
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.
Danny Wesby - Shore Manager
Danny grew was born and grew up on Glovers Reef, and has remained involved throughout his career. He has worked in various capacities for WCS for eleven years, and now runs all mainland supply and transportation for the station. Danny is also a key researcher for the Glovers Reef Seascape, gathering data for "Long term Atoll Monitoring Project" (LAMP) and the Fisheries catch assessment.
(Photos courtesy of A Carr III, A. Tilley D. Chapman & T. Galvan)