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Returns to the CEA Science Program
Charles Shaw joined CEA in 1993, just after the CEA office doors were opened. As a geologist, Charles had been studying a curious deposit of boulders and sand at Akumal that he later interpreted as the deposit left by a tsunami. He thought that CEA would be a good vehicle to find grant money to further that work. Little did he know what the next 10 years at CEA had in store for him.
Hydrogeological and water quality studies have been ongoing at CEA since Charles joined the CEA staff. In 1994 Mike Mulgrew provided a budget to sample the local groundwater and lagoons and pay for commercial water quality analyses. Serious contamination was discovered and confirmed by additional samples over the next two years. As a result the Vecinos de Akumal gave CEA $10,000 to equip a water quality laboratory, which was designed and built by Samantha Smith. Charles has been supervising the water quality monitoring program since that time. Two environmental reports have been published with the results of the monitoring program.
In addition to his work as a geologist and the Science Program director, Charles has been the driving force behind the grant money that CEA has received for its programs. Over the past three years, Charles has brought to CEA significant grant funds and more are pending for 2004. Since 9/11 when the foundations suffered serious financial setbacks, Charles has managed to carry the CEA programs along with careful planning and money management and, at the same time, has expanded the CEA office space and added significantly to the staff.
The CEA Membership Program was begun by Charles in 2001 and generates around $20,000 per year in unrestricted funds, which are very important to CEA, or any NGO.
On January 1, 2002, Charles became CEA Director when Mike Mulgrew stepped down. Most of Charles’s time has been spent looking for more funding and directing the research at CEA. Building on the Cornell University program, brought to CEA by Mike Mulgrew in 1994, a group of 56 scientists now carry out research at Akumal, making CEA a regional center for study of the impact of development on the environment.
Charles has received a grant from the Oak Foundation to expand the water quality monitoring program and he will be moving over to the CEA Water Quality Monitoring Laboratory to continue his scientific work.
Now, a new era is about to begin, as CEA welcomes its new Director, Paul Sánchez-Navarro.
Enter Paul Sánchez-Navarro
Paul Sánchez-Navarro comes to CEA from 10 years with the World Wildlife Fund. Born in the United States, Paul has deep family and cultural ties to México. He worked at the Mexican environmental group, Pronatura, the magazine México Desconocido, and with World Wildlife Fund in México City, before moving to Geneva.
At WWF world headquarters, Paul developed programs in sustainable development policy for third world countries. He speaks Spanish and English fluently and he will be a fine liaison within the multi-cultured Akumal community. The possibilities for the future with a man of Paul’s experience in the social aspects of environmental issues are endless and he will add a new and much needed dimension to CEA’s efforts toward an environmentally sustainable tourism development.
Paul assumed his duties on February 1, 2004. As a new century begins to unfold, the CEA staff is excited about the future and is optimistic that CEA’s second decade of dedication to the environment will see a rising demand by people throughout the world for effective action on the part of their governments to build a sustainable world, where we can live without fear.
We at CEA welcome Paul Sánchez-Navarro and look forward to his leadership in the crucial years ahead. Welcome aboard, Paul!
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