Humberto Berlanga is a biologist graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He has ample experience in topics related to ornithology, wildlife management and international cooperation in biodiversity and bird conservation issues. Between 1985 and 1988, Humberto worked at UNAM’s Institute of Biology in projects related to ecology of tropical bird communities. From 1989 to 1991 he worked for the Cuixmala Ecological Foundation aiding in the creation of the Cuixmala-Chamela Biosphere Reserve in Jalisco, México. Humberto has been a visiting professor and instructor in various forums, courses, workshops, and national and international seminars, related to ornithology, wildlife management, natural protected areas, and environmental policy. He has more than 20 scientific, technical and outreach publications on birds and wildlife. He has been the representative of Mexico in various forums and international conventions such as CITES, RAMSAR and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Since 1997, he has served as the co-president of the migratory bird board of the Trilateral Committee for Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation of México, Canada and the United States. Since 2005 he has been a member of the Western Hemisphere Waterfowl Council (WCC) and part of the international scientific committee of the “Partners in Flight” program on migratory species. For 18 years he has been the National Coordinator of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) at the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO).
He is currently working on the promotion of regional alliances for bird conservation; in the evaluation of the conservation status of the birds of the Americas; in the development of platforms and information tools such as aVerAves (eBird Mexico) and the AVESMX.net portal (the Mexico Avian Knowledge Network). Humberto is also in charge of the coordination of various participatory monitoring projects, such as the CONABIO’s Community Bird Monitoring Network, the expansion in Mexico of the Breeding Bird Surveys (BBS) and the operation of the Urban Bird Program (PAU) among other research activities and citizen science throughout the country.