María Auxiliadora Farías

Deputy Director of Science

María Auxiliadora Farías is a conservation specialist from the Galápagos islands with approximately 20 years of experience leading portfolios of environmental, tourism, productive, and social projects across the islands. Her career brings together protected area governance and management, conservation, and sustainability planning, with a proven ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, build strategic partnerships, and translate technical and scientific evidence into decisions, policies, and measurable results.

She has held senior leadership positions at the Galapagos National Park, WWF-Ecuador, the Ministry of Tourism, and the Galápagos Government Council, driving strategic conservation, governance, and sustainability processes and strengthening coordination with key stakeholders. She has specialized training in protected area management and project management.

At the Charles Darwin Foundation, she works closely with the Scientific Directorate to strengthen institutional scientific leadership, enhance coordination across the scientific portfolio, and consolidate strategic partnerships with key counterparts, including the Galapagos National Park Directorate and other relevant actors supporting conservation across the archipelago.