Enric Sala grew up on the coasts of the Spanish Mediterranean, and received a PHD in ecology from the University of Aix-Marseille, France. During his youth he developed an understanding of how destructive human behavior could be to our oceans. In his professorship at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, California, and since 2006 when he moved back to Spain to become hold the first researcher on marine conservation ecology at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research, Sala has worked tirelessly to save our oceans. Since 2008, Sala is now also a National Geographic Fellow.

Sala has a lot of fun whilst saving the world though. Much of his research “requires” him to go diving in many locations, including the Caribbean, the Sea of Cortés, the Mediterranean, and remote Pacific islands. For his efforts Enric has been awarded with the 2005 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow, a 2006 Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, a 2007 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, and a 2008 Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He also received the 2006 Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities with National Geographic.

You can connect with Enric on LinkedIn and Facebook