| Luiz
Rodrigues' interest and commitment to environmental preservation
dates back to his high school years when he discovered
his passion for marine science.
In 1991, Luiz relocated to Key West,
where he worked as a volunteer for Reef Relief, a local
coral reef preservation nonprofit, and taught SCUBA
diving at a local dive shop. While in Key West, he also
developed and taught an introductory course on the Florida
Keys Coral Reef Ecosystem (www.reefrelief.org)
at the Florida Keys Community College. Today, this course
is utilized by Reef Relief as part of their free Teacher's
Kit on coral reef preservation and it is utilized by
several nonprofits throughout the Caribbean.
In 1992, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Luiz
represented Reef Relief at the United Nations Earth
Summit and Global Forum, and conducted a seminar on
sustainable tourism in Brazil.
In 1993, Luiz returned to Santa Cruz
and got involved with another local non-profit, Ecology
Action (www.ecoact.org), one of California's
oldest and most active grassroots environmental organizations.
At Ecology Action he helped implement the Earth Teams
Program, a community oriented program that strives to
minimize environmental impact on Earth; and worked for
the California Used Motor Oil Recycling Program and
the Business Waste Reduction Program.
During the following five years, he also
worked for International Health Programs, IHP (www.ihp.org), a 35 years old nonprofit organization dedicated
to training professionals of developing countries on
important health and environmental issues. At IHP he
worked side-by-side with the agency's head of the AIDS
prevention program, Ms. Ruth Mota, his mentor and guide.
Together they trained over 500 foreign professionals,
especially in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention, at training
centers in Latin America and Africa, as well as at the
agency's institute in Santa Cruz, California.
One of Luiz' main achievements at IHP,
was the development and implementation of a training
program for environmental professionals from developing
countries: "Environment and Population: Problems
and Practical Solutions". This four-week workshop
addressed the impact of overpopulation and overconsumption
on the environment, their subsequent effect on health
and quality of life of communities, and discussed some
practical solutions, which could be easily implemented.
Presently he is a member of the Beach
Preservation Committee, for the city of Miami Beach
and, as of August 2001, ECOMB's new Executive Director.
Any questions? Email
Luiz for the answers
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