Born: 1931 (Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic)
Died: 2022
Idelisa Bonnelly de Calventi (10 September 1931 – 3 July 2022) was a Dominican marine biologist who is considered the mother of marine conservation in the Caribbean. She was the founder of the study of biology in the Dominican Republic, as well as the founder of the Institute of Marine Biology and the Dominican Foundation for Marine Research. She was instrumental in the creation of the first Humpback Whale Sanctuary of the North Atlantic and has won numerous awards, including induction into the UNEP’s Global 500 Roll of Honour, UNESCO’s Marie Curie Medal and the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella. The BBC has called her one of the most important women scientists in Latin America.
Biography:
Idelisa Bonnelly Peralta was born on 10 September 1931 in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. As she wanted to study marine biology and there were no schools teaching biology in the Dominican Republic, she pursued her university studies in New York. In 1953, she enrolled at Columbia University, graduating with a BS in marine biology in 1956. She went on to attain a master’s degree from New York University in 1961.
After completion of her schooling, Bonnelly began her first job at the New York Aquarium as a research assistant to Ross Nigrelli. In 1962, she returned to the Dominican Republic and began teaching at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), founding the first institution for the study of biology in the country. In 1966, she founded the Institute of Marine Biology, which later became the Research Center of Marine Biology, at which she taught from 1967 to 1986 and then until 1992 served as the coordinator of graduate studies.
In 1974, Bonnelly founded the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic and began publishing works which became widely influential for those managing and concerned with conservation of marine resources. In 1986, she was instrumental in the creation of the first protected area for the humpback whale, originally called the Humpback Whale Sanctuary on the Silver Bank but today known as Santuario de los Bancos de la Plata y la Navidad.
For her contributions, she was awarded the Medal of Merit of Dominican Women in Science by the Government of the Dominican Republic in 1986, the National Science Prize from the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic in 1987, and was inducted into the Global 500 Roll of Honour by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1987. She became a Professor Meritorious at UASD in 1990 and in 1991 she created the Dominican Foundation for Marine Research.
Awards:
– Medal of Merit of Dominican Women in Science (1986)
– National Science Prize from the Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic (1987)
– Induction into the Global 500 Roll of Honour by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (1987)
– UNESCO’s Marie Curie Medal
– Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella.