Staff Spotlight: Adriana Troncoso

Adriana is a 24-year old Marine Biologist who fell in love with the rainforest having grown up around it. She now works in the Peruvian Amazon.

My favorite travel memory is of a trip I took to the Marañon River in Peru. We went with a team of professional kayakers and Peruvian activists to promote the incredible potential of the river and to let the people know about the big threats posed by many mega dam projects. It was a two-week travesty with rafts and kayaks through incredible rapids and breathtaking sceneries.

What made this trip unique and unforgettable was the amazing people I met in the team and in the small riverside villages that were going to be directly affected by the dams. They were so kind to us and were very grateful for what we were doing. I had the opportunity to do a small presentation in each village about the importance of the ecosystem and how dams can affect them. I loved how even small kids participated with a lot of enthusiasm.

Since I started working in Eco Decision, I feel I have acquired a lot of new knowledge because it makes me learn new things about the rainforest every day. Being surrounded by amazing people from all around the world with a lot of energy and new ideas on how to protect the Amazon and be more sustainable has opened my eyes and encouraged me to start my own projects.

It’s hard to choose only one because there are always exciting anecdotes when you work in the rainforest. The last one I remember happened to me and two volunteers. We were walking along the river shore to see the sunset when we found caiman footprints that went into a pond, so we assumed there was a caiman there.

We started to look for it, but it was very muddy. We were using a tripod to pick up the mud, and we were about to quit when one of the volunteers raised the tripod with an adult white caiman on top! It wasn't moving and we thought it was dead because it had its eyes closed, but it suddenly opened its eyes, jumped out the tripod, and started walking slowly out of the pond. It passed right through us and simply got into another pond.

Because I’m a Biologist, I will definitely choose the Biology Program as it is more inclined on doing research and going out every day to look for animals. I’m more inclined to mammal monitoring, but birds and herptiles are also amazing creatures to see, and very little is known. The Education Program is also one of my favorites because it allows us to share all the information we have. I also strongly believe that education is crucial for conservation.

What makes Eco Decision unique is the passion for conservation that all the members of the team share. I love the fact that it makes you feel like part of a family and not a big company where you never get to know the boss, and where everyone is treated horizontally with a lot of respect and kindness.

The most important thing in a successful company is its employees. A company is nothing without a team. Every member of the company has to feel that they are part of the team. They need to have a good and friendly working environment. If employees are happy and they like what they are doing, then the clients will be happy too.