Background:  

Mexico.
1994 - Bachelor in Marine Biology, University of Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico
2000 - Master degree in Wildlife Management, Institute of Ecology, Veracruz, Mexico
Areas of interest: Marine mammalogy, conservation of threatened species, conservation policy and strategic planning, and monitoring and evaluation of conservation programs.

Personal interest/goals:

I am member of the following organizations: Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia, Australasian Wildlife Management Society, American Society for Marine Mammalogy, Latinoamerican Society for Conservation Biology, Mexican Manatee Advisory Committee, Mexican Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and Sirenian International.

Study Area: Managing the Natural Environment

Project Title:Evaluating the threatened species recovery planning in Australia

Project outline: The aim of my research is to evaluate the recovery planning scheme developed by the Australian agencies to conserve and restore threatened species. The evaluation was conducted through addressing four main research questions: 1) How recovery planning operates across jurisdictional and institutional scales? 2) Do recovery plans comply with legislative requirements and best practice conservation principles? 3) What factors have most influence on implementation of recovery plans? and 4) What modifications could be made in the management system to improve effective implementation of recovery plans? I employed methods from policy sciences and systems analysis to generate a better understanding of the management system that governs threatened species recovery. In December 2007 a section of the thesis was presented at the 20th Annual Conference of the Australasian Wildlife Management Society held in Canberra (see reference below).

Advisors:

Principal: Marc Hockings, NRSM, University of Queensland
Other: Greg Baxter, NRSM, University of Queensland

Publications:

• B. Morales-Vela & A. Ortega-Argueta. 1998. Mamíferos acuáticos de Quintana Roo. In: Enciclopedia de Quintana Roo. (Tomos 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, y 8). Primera Edición. México, D. F.
• Cortina-Julio, B. E. & A. Ortega-Argueta. 2000. Las vacas marinas. Revista Pronatura 9, 22-27.
• Ortega-Ortiz, J., A. Delgado-Estrella & A. Ortega-Argueta. 2004. Mamíferos marinos del Golfo de México: Estado actual del conocimiento y recomendaciones para su conservación, pp. 135-160. In: Caso, M. I. Pisanty, y E. Ezcurra (Eds.) ¨Diagnóstico Ambiental del Golfo de México¨. SEMARNAT/INE/ INECOL/ HRIGMS.
• Ortega-Argueta, A., C. E. Pérez-Sánchez, O. G. Gordillo-Morales, O. G. Gordillo, D. G. Pérez, & H. Alafita. 2005. Cetacean strandings on the Southwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf of Mexico Science 22(2):179-185.
• Ortega-Argueta, A. 2006. Five years of the Manatee Recovery Plan in Mexico: it is time to evaluate its effectiveness, Sirenews, Newsletter of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources/Species Survival Commission-Sirenia Specialist Group.  44, 8. October 2006.
• Gonzales-Solis, D., V. M. Vidal-Martinez, D. M. Antochiw-Alonso, & A. Ortega-Argueta. 2006. Anisakis nematodes from stranded Pygmy sperm whales, Kogia breviceps (Kogiidae), in three localities of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The Journal of Parasitology 92(5):1120-1122.
• Ortega-Argueta, A., M. Hockings & G. Baxter. 2007. Threatened species recovery plans: an analysis of their characteristics and internal consistency. Fenner Conference on the Environment-20th AWMS Annual Conference, Canberra, Australia, December 2007.

Contact Details:

• Phone: 61 (7) 5460 1681
• E-mail: a.ortega@uq.edu.au; aortegarg@yahoo.com.mx
• Postal: School of Natural and Rural Systems Management, University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Gatton 4343, Queensland, Australia