Antonio A. Mignucci-Giannoni, PhD (1964, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

) is a biological oceanographer specializing in the biology, management and conservation of marine mammals. He is the founder of the international conservation organization Red Caribeña de Varamientos (Caribbean Stranding Network) dedicated to the care, treatment, and rehabilitation of injured or stranded marine mammals, sea turtle and sea birds. As a scientist, Mignucci is an expert in endangered tropical marine mammals and a specialist in the West Indian manatee

West Indian Manatee

The West Indian Manatee is a manatee, and the largest surviving member of the aquatic mammal order Sirenia . The West Indian Manatee, Trichechus manatus, is a species distinct from the Amazonian Manatee, T. inunguis, and the West African Manatee, T. senegalensis...

.

Education

Antonio Mignucci was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

 in 1964. Dr. Mignucci studied zoology

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 at Colorado State University

Colorado State University

Colorado State University is a public research university located in Fort Collins, Colorado. The university is the state's land grant university, and the flagship university of the Colorado State University System.The enrollment is approximately 29,932 students, including resident and...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology in 1986. Subsequently, he specialized in marine biology and conservation at the University of Rhode Island

University of Rhode Island

The University of Rhode Island is the principal public research university in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in Kingston. Additional campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Providence, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West...

 receiving a Master of Arts in Marine Affairs in 1989. In 1996 Mignucci received a PhD in Biological Oceanography from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez

The University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez or Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez in Spanish , is a land-grant, sea-grant, space-grant state university located in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico...

. He is a Post-Doctoral Fellow from the Sirenia Project affiliated with the Florida Caribbean Science Center. His doctorate research centers in marine sciences with emphasis in aquatic animal health. During his doctoral studies, he founded the international conservation organization Red Caribeña de Varamientos (Caribbean Stranding Network). Academic positions include Assistant Professor of Biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

 and Environmental Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico (1996–1998), Professor of Oceanography

Oceanography

Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...

 and Environmental Sciences at the Universidad Metropolitana (1998–2005), and Research Professor of Marine Sciences at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Bayamón Campus (2009 to present).

Research

As a scientist, Dr. Mignucci researches the biogeography, stranding and mortality of marine mammals, and studies their ecology through boat and aerial surveys, and the use of satellite transmitters. He also researches marine populations with the use of genetic tools. He is internationally recognized for his work on whales, dolphins, manatees and seals

Pinniped

Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...

 throughout the Caribbean. He has also lectured extensively in schools, universities and community-based non-profit organizations both in Puerto Rico and abroad. Dr. Mignucci serves as consultant to different public and private organizations on the development of holding facilities and on husbandry techniques for marine species, particularly manatees. He has also been scientific advisor to aquaria and research laboratories throughout the West Indies, Central and South America on medical treatment and husbandry techniques for captive manatees. In doing so, he has traveled extensively in the US, Caribbean, South America, Europe and Japan. He actively serves as environmental consultant to government agencies and private corporations throughout the world, on marine wildlife studies and recovery efforts of endangered species.

Publications

Dr. Mignucci has published extensively authoring with colleagues over 40 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals such as Aquatic Mammals, Avian Pathology, Biological Conservation, Bulletin of Marine Science, Caribbean Journal of Science, Environmental Management, Environmental Pollution, Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, Journal of Cetacean Research and Management, Journal of Fish Biology, Journal of Neotropical Mammalogy, Journal of Parasitology, Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation, Mammalia, Marine Mammal Science, Molecular Ecology, NOAA Technical Memorandum, Report of the International Whaling Commission, Revista Academia Colombiana de Ciencias, Science, The Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals, Veterinary Parasitology and the IUCN The World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species. He published his first book titled "El manatí de Puerto Rico," which details the natural history of Caribbean manatees in this tropical island.

Community Education and Outreach

Through the Caribbean Stranding Network, Dr. Mignucci has applied his scientific and research experience on oceans and marine wildlife to outreach and community educational programs in Puerto Rico. He is the author of didactic materials, both in video, multimedia and printed formats, on information and conservation awareness about our seas and endangered marine wildlife. In 1994, he co-authored with the late singer Tony Croatto

Tony Croatto

Hermes Davide Fastino Croatto Martinis, better known as Tony Croatto was an Italian singer and composer best known for his interpretations of Puerto Rican folk music. He was also a television presenter.-Biography:Born in Attimis, a comune in the province of Udine, Italy...

 the song and video "Moisés llego del Mar" about manatees and their protection. The song became a symbol for wildlife conservation in Puerto Rico.

Honors and awards

His expertise and commitment to marine conservation has granted him local, national and international recognition. Since 1994, he is an executive member of the Sirenian Specialist Group of the IUCN-The World Conservation Union in Gland, Switzerland. His work was featured in the Earthpulse II television series of the National Geographic Channel, broadcast in 2002 and 2003 throughout the globe. In 2004, he was awarded the Citizen of the Year Award by the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board, and the Environmental Quality Award by the US Environmental Protection Agency in New York City.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico
  Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico
  Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico came about as a result of various economic and political changes in the mid-19th century Europe; among those factors were the social-economic changes which came about in Europe as a result of the Second Industrial Revolution, political discontent and widespread...
  
  
• List of Puerto Rican scientists and inventors
• University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez people

External links

• http://www.mignucciambiental.com

• http://www.manatipr.org

• http://www.universia.pr/portada/actualidad/noticia_actualidad.jsp?noticia=13955

• http://omacha.org/noticias/transferencia-de-conocimientos-frente-al-trafico-ilegal-y-tenencia-de-manaties-en-el-peru

• http://www.primerahora.com/XStatic/primerahora/template/supnota.aspx?n=114031&ms=travesias

• http://www.universia.pr/portada/actualidad/noticia_actualidad.jsp?noticia=19610

• http://www.cienciapr.org/news_view.php?id=223

• http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle_identification_Content.asp?ContentID=160745

• http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/22103/summ

• http://www.universia.pr/portada/actualidad/noticia_actualidad.jsp?noticia=1297