Carlos Pérez Cembrero Biography

Carlos Cembrero was born in Madrid, Spain. His family was very concerned about their kids growing up in a big city with no contact with nature and wildlife. He spent his teenage years studying in the country near the beautiful Alberche River surrounded by trees and hills. There, he learned the value of the animals, plants and friendship.

Cembrero then enrolled in Biology Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid. He reached a professional profile as a Zoologist, sailing instructor and crew officer in the Spanish Coast Guard patrol boats.

During this period, Cembrero joined the environmental fight building maritime educational programs and developing the First Actions Team for Greenpeace Spain. Cembrero left the organization in 2001, along with 10 colleagues, to protest the direction of Greenpeace Spain.

Trying to recapture the feeling of the true environmental activist, Cembrero joined the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, volunteering on the Farley Mowat during a six month campaign, highlighted by environmental front-line activism.

After the Farley Mowat campaign in 2002, he joined a project in Costa Rica named MarViva—a fleet that patrols and surveys the maritime protected areas in cooperation with the government authorities in Central America.

Currently, Cembrero is the Director of Operations for Oceana in Europe. Oceana is a foundation focused in the research, protection and documentation of marine habitats in the world’s ocean.