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Caroline Puschendorf

Caroline Puschendorf is a board member and Science Advisor to Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund and Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG, www.acguanacaste.ac.cr). Caroline grew up in the south east of England and moved to the tropics to study coral reefs at the end of her undergraduate degree. Caroline is a marine biologist with a conjoint PhD cum laude in coral immunology from James Cook University, Australia, and Newcastle University, UK.  Caroline’s PhD was focused on elucidating mechanisms of coral immunity and ecological patterns in immune function. Caroline has a keen interest in coral health, bleaching and disease, and extensive experience in coral ecological monitoring.

Caroline met her Costa Rican, biologist husband, Robert Puschendorf, while studying in Australia, and has subsequently spent a lot of time getting to know Costa Rica and the Guanacaste province in particular. With GDFCF, Caroline will be working primarily in Sector Marino of ACG, in collaboration with ACG staff, parataxonomists, paraecologists and UCR. Caroline’s immediate aims are to document marine biodiversity, understand temporal and spatial patterns in coral health in and around Sector Marino, and work towards establishing sustainable fishing practices within the local communities.