Organization

Barcelona Zoo’s recent transformation is a response to the need to develop a new partnership between the Zoo and the scientific community. The Zoo is expected to become an essential part of Barcelona’s biodiversity conservation policies and an important tool for scientific research and education. The Zoo now has a leading role to play, not only in terms of providing fun, family entertainment, but also as a first-class centre of scientific research and education.

To achieve this requires the establishment of an Advisory Council, to provide expertise on key issues of scientific research, knowledge transfer and public awareness.

The Advisory Board

Barcelona Zoo’s Advisory Board has a consultative and supportive role. It advises on, promotes and authorizes proposals and procedures in the Zoo’s three main areas of concern: education, conservation and research. This means not only drawing up the general guidelines for scientific and conservation programs but also developing public awareness activities that share the very same aims. 

The responsibilities of the Advisory Board are:

a) To advise on issues of science, conservation, education, knowledge transfer and public awareness. 

b) To propose lines of research, study initiatives, and ways of communicating Barcelona Zoo’s main aims and activities – i.e. all areas beyond the strictly zoological, with the purpose of raising awareness about the threats to the Earth’s natural systems. 

c) To promote and stimulate scientific collaboration in all spheres and at all levels.

d) To define the exhibit content of the Zoo’s new interpretation centres.

e) Any other function related to the field that it may be asked to carry out.

The composition of the Advisory Board

Considering the board’s broad objectives and responsibilities, its composition must necessarily be multidisciplinary – its members must cover various fields of knowledge in order to ensure a broad perspective on each topic.
The council comprises 10 well-regarded figures from the worlds of conservation and research, and science and academia. They also have extensive knowledge and experience in the field of zoology.

Àlex Aguilar (Biologist). Head of the Department of Animal Biology at the Universidad de Barcelona (UB), where he heads the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Group. His research work has focused primarily on the study of demographics, ecology and the management of threatened marine species.

Sabrina Brando. Professor at the University of Saint Andrews (Scotland) and visiting professor at the Franklin and Marshall University (Lancaster). Brando is the secretary of the European Association of Aquatic Animals (EAAM), founded in 1972 in the Netherlands.

Josefina Castellví (oceanographer and biologist). Researcher at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography and the Barcelona Institute of Marine Sciences. Also a research professor affiliated to the CSIC, the largest public research institution in Spain, Castellví was the first woman to set up a base in the Antarctic. Over the last ten years she has participated in 10 three-month expeditions, has headed Spain’s scientific mission to the Antarctic and has picked up a number of medals and awards.

Eduard Degollada (Veterinary). Holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in veterinary science from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB). Has been a professor of anatomy at the same university’s Faculty of Veterinary Science and an associate researcher in the Department of Pathological Anatomy of the Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Ramon Folch i Guillén (Doctor of biological science and socio-ecology). His areas of specialization include territorial and urban management from a sustainable development point of view, an area that he, himself, has contributed much to the development of.  From 1994 he lead his own studies and since 2004 has served as president of the Social Council of the Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña. He is also the general secretary of the International Advisory Board of the Latin American Forum on Environmental Sciences (La Plata, Argentina) as well as holder of the UNESCO/FLACAM Chair of Sustainable Development; a member of the Spanish Chapter of the Club of Roma, and a long-stranding member of the Institute of Catalan Studies.

Enrique Lahman (Biologist and oceanographer). Served as director of congress for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), held in Barcelona in October 2008. Lahman first joined the congress in 1988 when he was appointed regional coordinator of the IUCN Wetlands Programme for Central America, the first regional program of its kind to be established by the organization. Four years later, he was named regional director of the IUCN for Meso-America (with a base in San José, Costa Rica), a position he has filled for the past 12 years.

Josep Enric Llobet i Rabagliati (Doctor of physics). Is head of condensed material physics at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB). Previously served in the same post at the University of Gerona. Has also served as dean of the UAB’s Faculty of Sciences (1991-1993) and of the University of Gerona’s Faculty of Experimental Sciences (1994-1995), a position in which he was able to promote the study of environmental sciences.

Jordi Oliver i Solà (Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in environmental sciences). Is  professor of eco-design at the Elisava School of Design (Barcelona). Holds degrees in eco-design (Elisava/UPF-UAB), sustainable land and urban planning (UPC) and energy systems and sustainable development (University of Oslo). Currently develops eco-neighbourhood projects at the UAB’s Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA). Is also working on his doctoral thesis in environmental diagnosis and urban sustainability.

Jorge Wagensberg Lubisnki (Doctor of physics). Received the University of Barcelona’s extraordinary doctorate award (1977) and has served as director of the “la Caixa” Foundation Science Museum (1981-2004); director of CosmoCaixa (2004-2005); director of science and environmental issues for the "la Caixa" Foundation  (2005-present), and founder and director of the Spanish-language scientific book collection, “Metatemas" (with 90 published titles).

Brian Zimmerman (Bachelor’s degree in environmental education). Currently heads the rennovation project of the London Zoo Aquarium and is in charge of new aquatic exhibitons at the Whipsnade Zoo (London) and the development of Biota, the new aquarium under construction in the London East End. Has been a member of the London Zoological Society since 1999 and participates actively in a number of conservation projects.