ABOUT US
Conservación ConCiencia is a registered (US and Puerto Rico) non-profit organization dedicated to environmental research and conservation that promotes sustainable development by working in collaboration with communities, NGOs, governments, academia and the private sector. Conservación ConCiencia is born out of the need to address environmental issues in a multifaceted manner utilizing an interdisciplinary toolbox that integrate life sciences, societal welfare and economic security into a problem solving approach to today's most pressing environmental problems.
Our Vision is a world where nature can thrive, economies prosper and people flourish.
Our Mission is to implement effective, science based conservation actions that move our societies towards sustainability.
Founder & Executive Director
Raimundo Espinoza is the founder and the Executive Director for Conservación ConCiencia.
Previously he’s served as the Nature Conservancy’s founding Cuba program Director and went on to facilitate the
historic first government to government action between the US and Cuba at the Everglades National Park. Mr.
Espinoza has extensive experience in coral reef conservation and management and was also responsible for
successfully establishing the Nature Conservancy’s operation in Puerto Rico. Before the Nature Conservancy, he
was awarded the prestigious NOAA Coral Reef Management Fellowship in Puerto Rico (2008-2010). He’s served as
an advising delegate of the Puerto Rican government at the Caribbean Challenge Initiative and has closely
collaborated with commercial fishers, local NGOs, and Governments across the Caribbean and Latin America in creating unique opportunities to further conservation actions on the ground and sea. He also served on the US Caribbean Fisheries Management Council’s Outreach and Education Advisory Panel and the Puerto Rico District Advisory Panel and is currently on NOAA’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, or MAFAC which advises the US Secretary of Commerce on all living marine resource matters that are the responsibility of the Department of Commerce.
Mr. Espinoza holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Pace University and a Master of Science in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland. He's fully bilingual in English and Spanish and is conversational in Portuguese.
Development Director
María Eugenia Espinoza has over 20 years of experience in development and urban planning, construction, project
management and environmental licensing. In collaboration with the Puerto Rico Solid Waste Authority she’s been
part of the creation of management plans for recycling facilities and for the appropriate handling of solid waste and
toxic waste. Maria Eugenia, known as Mergie holds a Master of Science in Construction Management from the
University of Kentucky-USA, a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute-
USA, a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies from Clark University-USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in
Architectural Restoration from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito-Ecuador, Project Management Professional
certificate from the Project Management Institute in Pennsylvania, USA, Certificate of Project Management, University of Puerto Rico, Certificate of Environmental Permitting and Regulations, University of Puerto Rico. Mergie also serves as an Ad Honorem board member for Women in Development in the Greater Boston Area, and is a former board member of Girl’s LEAP (Lifetime Empowerment and Awareness Program) in the Greater Boston Area.
