Foreword
Juan José Alvarado is one of those students who, from very early on, denoted a
clear interest in Marine Science and at some point defined his area of interest.
When he started looking at the echinoderms of Costa Rica and later, at those
reported and collected from Coco Island National Park, he found what he was
looking for. Since then, he has been actively carrying out research on echinoderms,
and most important, he has drawn attention to the activities regarding this group
that are taking place in Latin America. First, with the publication of Research on
Echinoderms in Latin America in 2005 (Revista de Biología Tropical, Volume 53,
Supplement 3: 387 p.). Then, with the creation of the Iberoamerican Echinoderm
Network Red Iberoamericana de Equinodermos (RIE) in 2006. And in 2008, with
the publication of another Special Issue on echinoderm research in Latin America:
Revista de Biología Tropical, 56 (Suppl. 3): 360 p. Now, together with Francisco
Solís-Marín from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), they
have put together an outstanding compilation of echinoderm research in Iberoamerica. The dedication of this book to the pioneering Latin American echinoderm
researchers is a tribute to their great work and an acknowledgment of the fruit their
early and many times solitary work has borne. It is a great honor for me to write
this Foreword, for I consider their work a significant step for biological research in
the region..
San José, Costa Rica, March 2012
Jorge Cortés
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias
del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR),
Universidad de Costa Rica
ix
Juan José Alvarado is one of those students who, from very early on, denoted a
clear interest in Marine Science and at some point defined his area of interest.
When he started looking at the echinoderms of Costa Rica and later, at those
reported and collected from Coco Island National Park, he found what he was
looking for. Since then, he has been actively carrying out research on echinoderms,
and most important, he has drawn attention to the activities regarding this group
that are taking place in Latin America. First, with the publication of Research on
Echinoderms in Latin America in 2005 (Revista de Biología Tropical, Volume 53,
Supplement 3: 387 p.). Then, with the creation of the Iberoamerican Echinoderm
Network Red Iberoamericana de Equinodermos (RIE) in 2006. And in 2008, with
the publication of another Special Issue on echinoderm research in Latin America:
Revista de Biología Tropical, 56 (Suppl. 3): 360 p. Now, together with Francisco
Solís-Marín from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), they
have put together an outstanding compilation of echinoderm research in Iberoamerica. The dedication of this book to the pioneering Latin American echinoderm
researchers is a tribute to their great work and an acknowledgment of the fruit their
early and many times solitary work has borne. It is a great honor for me to write
this Foreword, for I consider their work a significant step for biological research in
the region..
San José, Costa Rica, March 2012
Jorge Cortés
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias
del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR),
Universidad de Costa Rica
ix