Luis E. Fernandez

Luis E. Fernandez is a tropical ecologist with extensive experience in studying the impacts of artisanal gold mining and mercury pollution in tropical ecosystems. Luis E. has held various positions at Wake Forest University, including Research Associate Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation. Luis E. also co-founded and served as Executive Director of Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica (CINCIA). Prior to their work at Wake Forest, they were a Visiting Scholar and Director of the Carnegie Amazon Mercury Project at Carnegie Institution for Science. Luis E. has also worked as a Senior Fellow at the Environmental Leadership Program, Senior Research Associate and Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, and as an Environmental Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. Additionally, they have served as an International Affairs Specialist at the US Environmental Protection Agency and as Chief Financial Officer of the Society for Conservation Biology - DC Chapter. Fernandez has also been involved in educational programs as a Faculty Advisor for the International Scholar Laureate Program and as an instructor for the Envision Institute's International Scholar Laureate Environment Program in Brazil.

Luis E. Fernandez holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan, which they obtained from 1995 to 2003. Prior to that, they completed their M.S. in Environmental Science at The City University of New York from 1992 to 1995. Luis E. also holds a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Computer Science from Hofstra University, which they pursued from 1985 to 1992.