Dr. Alex Hearn is a marine fisheries ecologist with 20 years of experience working in Galápagos. He obtained his BSc in Oceanography and Marine Biology from the University of Southampton, UK, and his MSc and PhD from Heriot-Watt University in the Orkney Islands. He worked as Coordinator of Fisheries Research at the Charles Darwin Foundation from 2002 to 2008, as a Project Scientist at UC Davis from 2008 to 2012, and as Science Director at Turtle Island Restoration Network (California) from 2012 to 2015. He is currently based at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) and the Galapagos Science Center, as a Professor at the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences since 2015.

Alex’s early career was focused on benthic invertebrate fisheries, but while working in the Galapagos Marine Reserve and witnessing ongoing attempts by local fishers to legalize longlining, he became interested in the role that oceanic islands such as Galapagos play in the spatial ecology of highly mobile fish species such as sharks. In 2006, he teamed up with Dr. Pete Klimley to develop a shark tracking program using ultrasonic and satellite telemetry, which eventually became the regional MigraMar network of scientists based across the Eastern Tropical Pacific working on research and conservation of migratory marine species.

His current projects include using acoustic and satellite telemetry to establish the migratory pathways of sharks, evaluating the movement ecology of the pelagic assemblage around oceanic islets, and monitoring shark nursery grounds. Alex has published over 60 peer-reviewed research articles and over a dozen book chapters. He is part of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group for South America. He recently led the multi-institutional team of biologists to develop a blueprint for improved conservation of the open waters outside the Galapagos Marine Reserve, a process which resulted in the creation of the new Hermandad Reserve in 2022. He currently serves as President of the MigraMar Board of Directors and was made co-champion of the Mission Blue Galapagos Hope Spot in 2020.

Alex joined the Editorial Board of Environmental Biology of Fishes in 2020, and he is also an Associate Editor for Animal Biotelemetry.