Dr. Exequiel Ezcurra
eezcurra@sdnhm.org.
San Diego Natural History Museum
P O Box 121390, San Diego, California 92112-1390
(619) 232-3821, ext. 191

Dr. Michael Hager
mhager@sdnhm.org.
San Diego Natural History Museum
P O Box 121390, San Diego, California 92112-1390
(619) 232-3821, ext. 216

Exequiel Ezcurra, Ph.D, Director of the Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias, Deputy Director of Research and Collections, San Diego Natural History Museum. Dr. Ezcurra was the lead scientist for Ocean Oasis and also provided much of the narration. As chair of the Scientific Steering Committee he created the original concept for the scientific content, assisted on scripting and script review, and acted as liaison with the scientific committee. Dr. Ezcurra also acted as liaison with Mexican government officials for permits to film in Baja California, and with conservation organizations.

Michael Hager, Ph.D., Executive Director, San Diego Natural History Museum
As executive producer of Ocean Oasis, Dr. Hager worked directly with Dr. Ezcurra and the Advisory Committee to maintain a strong scientific basis for the film and its components.

Other outstanding scientists and conservationists from the United States and Mexico on the committee:

Saúl Alvarez-Borrego, Ph.D., Founder of the the Centro de Educación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), and currently head of the Laboratory of Plankton Physiology and Ecology. Saúl is one of the most knowledgeable experts in the ecology and oceanography of the Sea of Cortés. He advised the project on issues related to currents, upwellings, and both physical and biological oceanography.

Tanya Atwater, Ph.D. Professor of Geological Sciences, University of California at Santa Barbara. Dr. Atwater is a world-renowned expert on plate tectonics, in particular, sea floor spreading and the evolution of the San Andreas fault system. She is passionate about education and the natural world, and advised on the geology components of the film.

Patricia Beller, M.S., Science Liaison Officer, Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias, San Diego Natural History Museum. As a marine biologist and an experienced aquarist, Patricia supported the project with her extensive experience with fishes of the Sea of Cortés, providing technical information on scientific and common names, ecology, behavior and conservation.

Thomas Deméré, Ph.D., Curator of Paleontology, San Diego Natural History Museum
Dr. Deméré is a leading specialist on the evolutionary history and paleobiology of pinnipeds and cetaceans, and in the geology and paleontology of southern California and Baja California. He assisted the project with information on the evolutionary history of the region.

Mercedes Guerrero-Ruiz, Researcher, Laboratory of Marine Mammals, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS). Mercedes has worked for years in whale biology, under the Direction of Dr. Jorge Urbán. Apart from advising the project on her area of expertise, she also appears in the film as an on-screen talent.

Eric Mellink, Ph.D., Head of the Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology at CICESE. Eric has worked extensively in animal ecology of both terrestrial mammals of the Sonoran/Baja Californian Deserts, and marine birds and mammals of the Sea of Cortés. He assisted the project with information on kangaroo rats, pinnipeds, and marine birds.

Jon Rebman, Ph.D., Curator of Botany, San Diego Natural History Museum
Dr. Rebman's primary research interest is the systematics of the Cactus family and the flora of the Baja California peninsula and its islands. He assisted the project accompanying the film crew during some field trips and providing guidance and information on the plants that appear in the film.

Alejandro Robles González, Director of the Mexico Program of Conservation International. A devoted conservationist and a recognized expert on the fisheries of the Sea of Cortés, Alejandro assisted the project with advise on marine ecology and conservation issues.

Jorge Urban, Ph.D., Head of Marine Mammal Research at UABCS, and Mexico's leading authority on whales. He generously advised the project on matters of whale ecology and behavior.

Enriqueta Velarde, Ph.D. Currently a Researcher at the Universidad Veracruzana in Jalapa, Veracruz, Enriqueta has worked for more than 20 years in the Heermann's Gull populations of Isla Rasa, in the Sea of Cortés. She assisted the film's production on marine birds, a subject on which she ranks among Mexico's topmost experts. She also appears on-screen in the Isla Rasa sequences.