Dr. Anmari Alvarez Aleman has been working with manatees, dolphins and the coastal communities that interact with these species for more than 15 years. Her passion for marine mammals and conservation began as a youth growing up in Cuba leading her to pursue academic studies and a career in this field as an adult. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Havana, Cuba, in 2006. After completing that degree, she worked with the Center for Marine Research at the University of Havana, with a focus on the conservation of the Antillean manatee. In 2010, she completed her master’s degree in Integrated Management of Coastal Zones. In 2015 she was granted an assistantship position at the University of Florida and became the first Cuban student to hold this opportunity in more than 50 years. She began to pursue a doctorate in Interdisciplinary Ecology with a concentration on Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. The core of her research was population genetics and the conservation of the West Indian manatee with a focus on Cuba. After four years of research and studies, and the birth of a baby boy, she graduated in December 2019.

Her research has generated scientific knowledge to support governmental actions to benefit species and habitats on both local and regional levels. She has published her findings in scientific journals and presented at several workshops and international conferences. She collaborates with the scientific group of the Manatee Monitoring Program of the National System of Protected Areas, Cuba. She is the Co-Chair of the Sirenia Specialist Group, IUCN. As the Caribbean Program Director at Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, she designs, implements, and oversees research and conservation projects of marine megafauna and their habitats in the Caribbean region. Some of her current research includes understanding the connection between the Cuban and Florida manatee population and generating knowledge about the importance of Marine Protected Areas for manatee conservation in the Caribbean.