Daniel H. Weinstein

BCI President of the Board

Judge Daniel Weinstein (Ret.) is one of the nation’s preeminent mediators of complex civil disputes. He is a pioneer in the development of mediation and teaches and lectures to fellow mediators and lawyers throughout the United States and the world. He is the founder of 7 Tepees Program for Youth and the founder of Weinstein international Foundation serving 140 Fellows in 74 countries 

Judge Weinstein is the recipient of the Cardozo International Advocate for Peace Award given to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and recently the Pepperdine Peacemaker Award previously given only once to Bishop Tutu of South Africa 

Judge Danny has had a home in Cabo Pulmo for many years where he built and developed the Cabo Pulmo Learning Center for the local children.

Debra Zeyen

BCI Executive Director

As Executive Director of Baja Coastal Institute, Deb oversees BCI project development and fundraising. Deb is a recognized expert in broadcasting and marketing having worked for over 30 years for CBS Network and Westinghouse Television. After retiring from that career, Deb received a master’s degree in Coastal Management and worked on coastal ocean health. With professional experience in business, marketing, and ocean conservation, Deb specializes in translating academic research into language and action that is usable by a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

Christopher Sliney

BCI Treasurer

Christopher Sliney is a results-oriented senior executive with 20 years’ experience launching and nurturing businesses in the digital media, content creation, and branding/strategy spaces including Website/Internet Utilization and Optimization; Optimized Media Creation, Transfer and Archiving Protocols; and Web 2.0 Mobile Application Development. Christopher has extensive experience in: social media; Interactive Experiences; Cross-Functional Team Development and Motivation; Senior Contract Negotiations; International Business Integration; and Media/Technology Consulting.

Patricia Wright

BCI Secretary/Vice-President

Pat is widely known as a formidable legislative and policy strategist for the disability civil rights community throughout both Democratic and Republican Administrations. Widely acknowledged as “the General” who coordinated the campaign to enact the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Wright also worked to establish acceptance of disability as a legitimate civil rights cause within the broad civil rights community as well as within traditional disability services organizations.

DR. OCTAVIO ABURTO 

Octavio is the Director of the Gulf of California Marine Program. He is an Assistant Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and a professional photographer associated with the International League of Conservation Photographers.

Dr. Aburto obtained his PhD at the Center of Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at SIO and was honored with the Jean Fort Award by the University of California, San Diego for his significant contribution to an issue of public concern through his doctoral research. As a Kathryn Fuller and Hellman Fellow, his research and photographs have focused on marine protected areas and commercially exploited marine species in Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the U.S. His photographs have been part of several conservation projects worldwide and have won international photography contests including a gold place in the Our World Underwater 2016.

Dr. Michael Kavanaugh

Internationally recognized water quality, water treatment, and groundwater remediation expert Mike Kavanaugh, PhD, PE, is a chemical and environmental engineer and currently a Senior Principal with Geosyntec Consultants based in the firm’s Oakland, Ca., office. With more than 40 years of consulting experience, contributions to over 80 technical publications, and more than 150 presentations to audiences that included congressional and state committees, Mike is a proven leader in the water, water quality, and groundwater engineering industry. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998.

EDgardo Ochoa

Scientist and scientific dive expert, Edgardo spent many years in Baja California.  Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Edgardo moved to La Paz to study Marine Biology at Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur.

Edgardo co-authored many papers including papers on the White tip shark in the west coast of Mexico; range extension of Psammocora stellata in the Gulf of California, Mexico; Sedimentation of coral reefs; the reefs of Cabo Pulmo; and several papers and presentations on scientific diving.

DR. HÉCTOR REYES BONILLA

Dr. Reyes is currently a professor-researcher in the Academic Department and Coastal Sciences of the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS), Dr. Reyes has published more than 40 scientific articles and more than ten books and book chapters. He has directed 50 bachelor's, master’s, and doctoral thesis of national and foreign students. His research career includes macroecology and functional dynamics of coral reefs.

Reyes has been invited as an expert for the analysis of data from the national parks of the Mesoamerican reef system. He is the scientific and technical advisor of the coral reefs of Mexico. Since 2011, it belongs to level III of the National System of Researchers, and it also has the Desirable Profile.

Linda Asuma-Weinstein

Independent film/documentary producer, director, actor. She started in front of the camera as a teenager with television work in Japan, Singapore, and Thailand then behind the camera with production companies such as Orion Pictures and various independent production houses. She is the founder of Akamai films, an independent film and documentary production company that creates and supports films on social and environmental justice. 

She is currently producing and directing a documentary about worldwide conflict resolution with an international advocate for peace winner. Filming has taken them to 28 countries the past 2+ years. Along with producing an Ethiopian human rights story and an environmental documentary dealing with conquering our planet's environmental issues.

JOY STOCKE

Joy received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Journalism and studied food science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. For more than thirty years, she has devoted her life to writing and telling stories through the lens of family, culture, and food. For fifteen years, she was founding partner and Senior Editor of the online magazine, Wild River Review. After publishing many books, she continues to study cooking techniques and recipes with home cooks from around the world. Currently, she is writing a memoir about Cabo Pulmo where she lives part of the year.