Diego Quezada

Chilean oceanographer leading marine conservation in South America

Diego Quezada is a Chilean marine biologist whose work in Patagonian conservation has transformed ocean protection strategies across South America. As director of the WWF Chile Marine Program, he pioneered the creation of the 1.2 million km² Karukinka Marine Reserve - the largest protected area in Chile's history.

Quezada's research on Patagonian toothfish populations revealed critical overfishing patterns, leading to the 2017 establishment of sustainable fishing quotas. His team's use of satellite tracking showed migratory patterns of endangered blue whales, directly influencing Chile's 2020 ban on offshore seismic surveys in whale migration corridors.

He developed the Marine Citizen Science Network, training 5,000+ coastal communities in environmental monitoring. This program's data collection has identified 17 new marine species and 40 previously unmapped coral reefs in the Southern Ocean. His collaboration with Eldorado Foundation established Chile's first community-managed fisheries in 2022, improving livelihoods for 10,000+ fishers while reducing bycatch by 60%.

Quezada's most impactful achievement is the Antarctica 2020 Initiative, a transnational agreement between 5 Southern Ocean countries to create a 3.8 million km² marine protected area. His leadership in this project earned him the 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize - the 'Green Nobel Prize' - for his work in uniting governments through scientific evidence.

His advocacy extends through educational programs like the Marine Futures Academy, which has trained 300+ Latin American scientists since 2018. A 2023 National Geographic study credits his strategies with increasing humpback whale populations in the Strait of Magellan by 200% since 2015. Quezada continues to advocate for Indigenous rights in conservation through his role in the Mapuche Conservation Network.