Rogdrigo Bustamante, a native of Chile, is an experimental marine ecologist focusing on the interface between research, conservation science, resource planning, management and policy. He has conducted research in coastal environments in Chile, Southern Africa, and Ecuador, primarily addressing rocky shore ecosystems and seaweed and invertebrate species that are subjected to commercial harvesting by local artisanal fishers in order to establish marine protected areas.

Since 1994, Rodrigo has been at the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands as director of the Marine Research and Coastal Conservation Department. In this capacity he has overseen infrastructure development, fundraising, and science administration, expanding the operation from a two-person team to a research staff of nearly 30 scientists and students, as well as an increasing number of collaborating scientists and institutions from around the world. He has also been involved in the design, negotiation, and implementation of environmental planning and policy, particularly in establishing the Special Law for Galapagos and creation of the management plan for the Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR).

Rodrigo is interested in experimental community ecology and ecosystem modeling for the GMR and he is completing data collection for a dynamic model of the Galapagos Central Shelf ecosystem down to 150 meters.

In addition to research and management, Rodrigo has taught graduate and postgraduate students and has conducted training courses for naturalist guides, park wardens, and artisanal fishermen. He is now expanding research efforts to different areas of continental Latin America (mainland Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Panama) to evaluate the regional significance of Galapagos marine and coastal biodiversity and of the region as whole. This includes organising collaborative international projects and launching an electronic database of information on biodiversity of the Galapagos.