Skip to content

Our People

Jorge G. Álvarez-Romero


Spatial Planning and Strategy scientist, Tasmania

Headshot of Jorge G. Álvarez-Romero
.

Jorge G. Álvarez-Romero Jorge G. Álvarez-Romero is the Spatial Planning and Strategy scientist with TNC © Through The Looking Glass Photography

Areas of Expertise

Systematic Conservation Planning, Integrated Land-Sea Planning, Multi-objective Planning, Scenario

Links

Contact

Email:

Biography

Jorge is the Spatial Planning and Strategy scientist at Global Science’s Spatial Conservation Science team. He employs diverse spatial planning tools and approaches to scale up effective and equitable area-based conservation through capacity building, regional collaboration, and promoting best practices. Jorge is interested in helping TNC and its partners to build a community of spatial planning practitioners that can work together to address complex challenges and achieve ambitious conservation goals.

Jorge is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist with a Ph.D. in Systematic Conservation Planning from James Cook University in Australia. With over 15 years of experience in this field, he has led various transdisciplinary projects in terrestrial and marine environments. His work covers multiple topics, such as integrating land-based threats into marine planning, identifying co-benefits from multiple objectives (e.g., downstream benefits in aquatic ecosystems from conservation actions in river basins), enhancing ecological connectivity on conservation networks, and improving collaboration across interests and jurisdictional boundaries. Jorge uses various tools and techniques, including GIS, spatial optimization, spatial modeling, scenario planning, and expert elicitation. Ultimately, he is particularly interested in promoting the integration of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine spatial planning to develop holistic solutions that address complex conservation challenges.

- Collapse biography

Publications

Selected publications

Gurney, G., V. Adams, J. G. Álvarez-Romero, J. Claudet. 2023. Area-based conservation: Taking stock and looking ahead. One Earth 6: 98-104

Kiatkoski Kim, M., J. G. Álvarez-Romero, K. Wallace, D. Pannell, R. Hill, V. Adams, M.

Douglas, R. Pressey. 2022. Participatory multi-stakeholder assessment of alternative development scenarios in contested landscapes. Sustainability Science 17: 221–241

Murray, N., E. Kennedy, J. G. Álvarez-Romero, M. Lyons. 2021. Data freshness in ecology and conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 36: 485-487

Sykora-Bodie, S., J. G. Álvarez-Romero, V. Adams, G. Gurney, J. Cleary, R. Pressey, N. C. Ban. 2021. Methods for identifying spatially referenced conservation needs and opportunities. Biological Conservation 260: 109138

Sykora-Bodie, S., J. G. Álvarez-Romero, J. Arata, A. Dunn, J. Hinke, G. Humphries, et al. 2021. Using forecasting methods to incorporate social, economic, and political considerations into marine protected area planning. Frontiers in Marine Science 8: 669135

Cockerell, B., R. Pressey, A. Grech, J. G. Álvarez-Romero, T. Ward, R. Devillers. 2020. Representation does not necessarily reduce threats to biodiversity: Australia's Commonwealth marine protected area system, 2012–2018. Biological Conservation 252: 108813

Adams, V. M., M. Mills, R. Weeks, D. Segan, R. L. Pressey, G. G. Gurney, C. Groves, F. Davis, J. G. Álvarez-Romero. 2019. Implementation strategies for systematic conservation planning. Ambio 48: 139-152

Álvarez-Romero, J. G., M. Mills, V. M. Adams, G. G. Gurney, R. L. Pressey, R. Weeks, N. C. Ban, J. Cheok, T. Davies, J. C. Day, M. Hamel, H. M. Leslie, R. A. Magris, C. Storlie. 2018. Research advances and gaps in marine planning: towards a global database in systematic conservation planning. Biological Conservation 227: 369-382

Álvarez-Romero, J. G., A. Munguía-Vega, M. Beger, M. Mancha-Cisneros, A. N. Suárez-Castillo, G. G. Gurney, R. L. Pressey, L. R. Gerber, H. N. Morzaria-Luna, H. Reyes-Bonilla, V. M. Adams, M. Kolb, E. Graham, J. Vanderwal, J. Torre. 2018. Designing connected marine reserves in the face of global warming. Global Change Biology 24: e671-e691

Adams, V. M., J. G. Álvarez-Romero, S. J. Capon, G. M. Crowley, A. Dale, M. J. Kennard, M. Douglas, R. L. Pressey. 2017. Making time for space: the critical role of spatial planning in adapting natural resource management to climate change. Environmental Science and Policy 74: 57-67

Adams, V. M., R. L. Pressey, J. G. Álvarez-Romero. 2016. Using optimal land-use scenarios to assess trade-offs between conservation, development, and social values. PLoS ONE 11: e0158350

Arias, A., R. L. Pressey, R. Jones, J. G. Álvarez-Romero, J. E. Cinner. 2016. Optimizing enforcement and compliance in offshore marine protected areas: a case study from Coco's Island, Costa Rica. Oryx 50: 18-26 

Álvarez-Romero, J. G., R. L. Pressey, N. C. Ban, J. Brodie. 2015. Advancing land-sea conservation planning: integrating modelling of catchments, land-use change and river plumes to prioritise catchment management and protection. PLoS ONE 10: e0145574

Álvarez-Romero, J. G., V. M. Adams, R. L. Pressey, M. Douglas, A. Dale, A. Auge et al., 2015. Integrated cross-realm planning: a decision-makers' perspective. Biological Conservation 191: 799-808

Gurney, G. G., R. L. Pressey, N. C. Ban, J. G. Álvarez-Romero, S. D. Jupiter, V. M. Adams. 2015. Efficient and equitable design of marine protected areas in Fiji through inclusion of stakeholder-specific objectives in conservation planning. Conservation Biology 29: 1378-1389

Adams, V. M., J. G. Álvarez-Romero, J. Carwardine, L. Cattarino, V. Hermoso, M. J. Kennard, S. Linke, R. L. Pressey, N. Stoeckl. 2014. Planning across freshwater and terrestrial realms: co-benefits and tradeoffs between conservation actions. Conservation Letters 7: 425-440

Álvarez-Romero, J. G., R. L. Pressey, N. C. Ban, J. Torre-Cosío, O. Aburto-Oropeza. 2013. Marine conservation planning in practice: lessons learned from the Gulf of California. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 23: 483-505

Visconti, P., M. Di Marco, J. G. Álvarez-Romero, S. R. Januchowski-Hartley, R. L. Pressey, R. Weeks, C. Rondinini. 2013. Effects of errors and gaps in spatial data sets on assessment of conservation progress. Conservation Biology 27: 1000-1010

Álvarez-Romero, J. G., R. L. Pressey, N. C. Ban, K. Vance-Borland, C. Willer, C.J. Klein, S.D. Gaines. 2011. Integrated land-sea conservation planning: the missing links. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 42: 381-409