A. Alonso Aguirre
Administration / Faculty / Full-Time
Developing inter-institutional, transdisciplinary collaborations and new technologies to address complex environmental problems; conservation medicine and ecological health; community-based conservation
Email: aaguirr3@gmu.edu
Office: 1500 Remount Road Front Royal, Virginia
More about A. Alonso Aguirre
Executive Director of the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation
Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Policy
- D.V.M., M.S., Ph.D. Colorado State University
Dr. Alonso Aguirre is Executive Director of the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation based at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia and he is Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Previously he was Senior Vice President at EcoHealth Alliance in New York while holding different appointments at the Consortium for Conservation Medicine, the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, Columbia University and Tufts University.
After obtaining his D.V.M., he received a M.S. in wildlife ecology and epidemiology and a Ph.D. in wildlife biology and protected areas management from Colorado State University where he served as Assistant Professor years later.
He acted as Wildlife Epidemiologist for NMFS Protected Species Investigations heading and pioneering the epidemiology program for the endangered Hawaiian monk seals and sea turtles. He authored the books Conservation Medicine: Ecological Health in Practice and Helminths of Wildlife: A Global Perspective, New Directions in Conservation Medicine: Applied Cases of Ecological Health, and published over 160 professional papers, monographs and scientific reports. He also served as co-editor and now as review editor of the new Springer journal EcoHealth. He also is a co-editor of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases and European Journal of Wildlife Research. Dr. Aguirre has served as the Wildlife Disease Association Latin American Section Chair, President Elect of the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians and Chair of the World Association of Wildlife Veterinarians. Currently he is executive member of NOAA Oceans and Human Health Initiative. He also served as a reviewer of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In 1998, he won the Harry Jalanka Memorial Medal from Finland and he received from CEPANAF (State Commission of Natural Parks and Wildlife) the 2010 Award in Conservation for his contributions in conserving protected areas.
He has been technical advisor for the Center for Environmental Russian Policy, International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Office International Des Epizooties, Diversitas, Smithsonian Institution, Institut für Zoo-und Wildtierforschung (Berlin), Institut Français de la Biodiversité (Paris), PAHO, Smithsonian Institution and UNDP among others. He has advised governments of several countries in the Americas, Southeast Asia and Western Europe. Dr. Aguirre has briefed the Mexican and US Congress, Administration, and federal agency leaders. His work has been the focus of extensive media coverage including Bioscience, Conservation In Practice, E-Magazine, Environmental Health Perspectives, the New York Times, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Newsweek. National Public Radio, CBS, LTV and other international magazines, TV and radio shows.
Phone: 703-993-7733
Selected Publications
Aguirre, A. A. 2012. Developing global capacity in conservation medicine: predicting and preventing the next epidemic from wildlife. Human Evolution/Global Bioethics 27 (1-3):47-50.
Aguirre, A. A., R. S. Ostfeld and P. Daszak. 2012. New Directions in Conservation Medicine: Applied Cases of Ecological Health, Oxford University Press, New York, 646 pp.
Brousset D. M. and A. A. Aguirre. 2011. Health assessment of wild jaguar populations as a conservation strategy. In G. Ceballos, C. Chavez, R. List, H. Zarza, R. A. Medellin, eds. Jaguar Conservation and Management in Mexico: case studies and perspectives. Alianza WWF/Telcel-UNAM pp. 163-172.
Suzán, G. and A. A. Aguirre. 2011. Hantavirus. In J.E. Napier and K. C. Gamble (eds). Infectious Diseases of Concern to Captive and Free Ranging Animals in North America, 1st ed. Infectious Disease Committee, American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, Yulee, Florida. 374 pp. Website address: http://www.aazv.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=754.
Ley-Quiñónez, C., A. A. Zavala-Norzagaray, T. L. Espinosa-Carreón, H. Peckham, C. Marquez-Herrera, L. Campos-Villegas and A. A. Aguirre. 2011. Heavy metals and metalloid values in blood of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Marine Pollution Bulletin 62:1979-1983.
Aguirre, A. A. 2010. Parasitic diseases in wildlife and domestic animals: new trends of disease emergence. In P.C. Lefevre, J. Blancou, R. Chermette and G. Uilenberg (eds.). Infectious and Parasitic Diseases of Livestock 1: General Considerations. Viral Diseases. Lavosier, France, pp. 73-77.
Aguirre, A. A. 2009. Essential veterinary education in zoo and wildlife medicine: a global perspective. Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 28(2): 605-610.
Aguirre, A. A. and A. Gomez. 2009. Essential veterinary education in conservation medicine and ecosystem health: a global perspective. Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 28(2): 597-603.
Aguirre, A. A. 2009. Biodiversity and health. EcoHealth 6(1):153-156.
Aguirre, A. A. and G. M. Tabor. 2008. Global factors driving emerging infectious diseases: Impact on wildlife populations. Animal Biodiversity and Emerging Diseases: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1149:1-3.
Rodríguez, J. P., A. B. Taber, P. Daszak, R. Sukumar, C. Valladares-Padua, S. Padua, L. F. Aguirre, R. A. Medellín, M. Acosta, A. A. Aguirre, C. Bonacic, P. Bordino, J. Bruschini, D. Buchori, S. González, T. Mathew, M. Méndez, L. Mugica, L. F. Pacheco, A. P. Dobson, and M. Pearl. 2007. Globalization of conservation: A view from the South. Science. 317:755-756.
Aguirre, A. A., T. J. Keefe, J. S. Reif, L. Kashinsky, P. Yochem, J. T. Saliki, J. L. Stott, T. Goldstein, J. P. Dubey, R. Braun and G. Antonelis. 2007. Infectious disease monitoring of the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 43(2):229-241.
Aguirre, A. A., S. C. Gardner, J. C. Marsh, S. G. Delgado, C. J. Limpus and W. J. Nichols. 2006. Hazards associated with the consumption of sea turtle meat and eggs: a review for health care workers and the general public. EcoHealth 3(3):141-153.
Vinetz, J. M., B. A. Wilcox, A. A. Aguirre, L. X. Gollin, A. R. Katz, R. S. Fujioka, K. Mali, P. Horwitz and H. Chang. 2005. Beyond disciplinary boundaries: leptospirosis as a model of incorporating transdisciplinary approaches to understand infectious disease emergence. EcoHealth 2(4):291-306.
Hanselmann, R., A. Rodriguez, M. Lampo, L. Fajardo-Ramos, A. A. Aguirre, A. M. Kilpatrick, J. P. Rodriguez and P. Daszak. 2004. Presence of an emerging pathogen of amphibians in introduced bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) in Venezuela. Biological Conservation 120:115-119.
Patz, J. A., P. Daszak, G. M. Tabor, A. A. Aguirre, M. Pearl, J. Epstein, N. D. Wolfe, A. M. Kilpatrick, J. Foufopoulos, D. Molyneux, D. J. Bradley, and Members of the Working Group on Land Use Change and Disease Emergence. 2004. Unhealthy Landscapes: Policy recommendations pertaining to land use change and disease emergence. Environmental Health Perspectives 112(10):1092-1098.
Aguirre, A. A. and P. Lutz. 2004. Sea turtles as sentinels of marine ecosystem health: is fibropapillomatosis an indicator? EcoHealth 1(3):275-283.
Lu, Y., A. A. Aguirre, Y. Wang, L. Zeng, P. C. Loh and R. Yanagihara. 2003. Viral susceptibility of newly established cell lines from the Hawaiian monk seal, Monachus schauinslandi. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 57:183-191.
Aguirre, A. A., R. S. Ostfeld, G. M. Tabor, C. A. House and M. C. Pearl (eds.). 2002. Conservation Medicine: Ecological Health in Practice. Oxford University Press, New York, 407 pp.
Chowdhury, N. and A. A. Aguirre (eds.). 2001. Helminths of Wildlife. Science Publishers, Inc., Enfield, New Hampshire, 514 pp.