Graduated in Biology from the Autonomous University of Madrid in 1982, he received his doctorate five years later at McGill University in Canada. He has dedicated his career to research on aquatic, marine and freshwater ecosystems, the functioning of the oceans on a planetary level, as well as in lakes, reservoirs, rivers, streams, wetlands and estuaries in collaboration with international institutions such as the UN, FAO and the World Bank. He has been an adjunct professor at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona, at the Center for Advanced Studies in Blanes and has worked as a research professor at the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA), all of which are dependent on the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).

He led the first Spanish expedition to the Arctic Ocean and also the Malaspina Expedition (2010-2011) aboard the Hespérides (A-33). In 2014, he worked for the Oceans Institute at the University of Western Australia to research coral reefs. He left the CSIC to work on a project in the Red Sea at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology of Saudi Arabia. He has published more than 400 scientific articles, several books and book chapters. Between 2008 and 2010, he was president of the American Association of Limnology and Oceanography.

He has received the Alejandro Malaspina National Research Award in 2007, the King James I Prize for Research in Nature Protection in 2009, the Ramon Margalef Ecology Award in 2019 and the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the area of Ecology and Conservation Biology in 2020. In 2010, he was named an honorary doctorate by the University of Quebec in Montreal and later by the University of Utrecht.

Doctor in oceanography, professional diver, founder of the association Longitude 181, was director of research for the program Deep Ocean Odyssey, expedition leader and former scientific advisor to Commander Cousteau.

He has participated in about twenty expeditions aboard the Calypso. He was responsible for the “Fisheries Resources” department at WWF France and was at the origin, together with Laurent Debas, of the concept of UEGC, Concerted Exploitation and Management Units, for sustainable management of fishery resources by fishermen.

He is also co-founder, together with his wife Véronique and Vincent Ohl, of the Longitude 181 association, whose objective is the protection of the marine environment and the equitable distribution of its resources, based on International Charter for the Responsible Diver.

Diver, scientific advisor and co-writer of the film Oceans directed by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud. He is a scientific advisor and co-author of the series of 4 52-minute documentaries The people of the Oceans (directed by Jacques Perrin and J. Cluzaud). Co-director of: Cachalote, a family story (Titans of the Sea, a Family Affair), awarded the Jackson Wild Media Award 2022, Animal Behavior long form category.

His work”The return of Moby Dick, or what sperm whales teach us about oceans and men“, received the Jacques Lacroix Prize for Literature and Philosophy from the French Academy in 2018. Latest work (2022):”In the Name of the Sharks“, who received the literary “essay” award 30 Millions d'Amis.

It proposes a conference program in order to sensitize everyone to the importance of leaving a place for wildlife, essential for the development of humanity.

With experience in finance, economics and management of biodiversity conservation, especially for marine ecosystems, John Joaquín Bohorquez has focused his recent research on several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, China and the Northeastern United States, collaborating with universities, the United Nations, NGOs and the private sector.

He obtained his doctorate in Marine Science at Stony Brook University, where he also completed a postdoctorate and is currently an associate researcher in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. He previously obtained his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College (Maine) with a specialization in Economics and Environmental Studies.

He is currently an expert consultant for the Minderoo Foundation's Marine 30x30 Finance program, working in partnership with the Blue Nature Alliance to implement systems-level funding for marine protected area networks. He is also a technical specialist for the Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA).

His main focus is the economics and financing of marine protected areas (MPAs), where he has conducted a series of case studies for his doctoral dissertation. His most notable works include funding marine protected areas in Latin America and the Caribbean, technical support for the Global Coral Reef Fund, marine conservation in China, and ecosystem restoration in New York with the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program. He serves on committees and advisory panels of several environmental organizations including the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), NOAA, The Economist magazine and The Explorers Club.