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Virna, a member of the NGO Concepto Azul, pioneered the use of molecular techniques in Galapagos by setting up the forerunner to GGEPL with the Galapagos National Park, where tests for avian pox virus, CDV, leptospira and salmonella were developed. Virna received a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Montpellier, France, in 2000, before returning to Ecuador to help establish the NGO, Concepto Azul. Concepto Azul is an organisation dedicated to community based projects that use biotechnology to enhance the development of environmentally sustainable aquaculture. Virna also helped set up the Programme of Biotechnology at the University of Guayaquil and now runs the Masters Course in Molecular Biology. In addition she is a scientific adviser to several Ecuadorian organisations such as the Galapagos National Park, and sits on the board of FUNDACYT, the Ecuadorian Academy of Sciences.

Simon joined the Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds as a Lecturer in Evolutionary Biology in November 2004, but was previously a Research Fellow at the Institute of Zoology from 2000 to 2004 where the  GGEPL project was initiated. His main area of research is using molecular and theoretical approaches to investigate conservation issues and evolution in natural populations. Simon is the UK principal investigator for the Darwin Initiative Project. Simon is also interested in the evolutionary genetics of disease, and is currently working on several projects investigating how patterns of genetic variation in natural populations  influence disease susceptibility. In past research, Simon has investigated genetic hybridisation associated with biological invasions, including hybridisation between introduced Japanese sika deer and the native red deer in Scotland, and  how biogeography, demographic history and evolutionary processes interact to influence patterns of genetic variation in mammals.

Andrew is Head of Wildlife Epidemiology at the Institute of Zoology and an experienced veterinary pathologist and epidemiologist. He has published over 140 scientific articles, including primary data and reviews on emerging infectious diseases and on disease threats to biodiversity. Dr. Cunningham has led several international and multi-disciplinary wildlife disease research projects, including the investigation of vulture declines in South Asia and the investigation of amphibian declines in the rain forests of Australia and Central America. The latter resulted in the discovery of a novel chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, now widely recognised as a major cause of amphibian declines and extinctions globally. He discovered a new epidemic ranaviral disease of frogs and published the first definitive report of the global extinction of a species caused by an infectious disease. This latter investigation involved co-ordinating researchers on four continents: an effort that was described in Nature as “an exemplary example of international scientific collaboration” (Halliday 1998). Dr. Cunningham was co-awarded the CSIRO medal in 2000 for this work.

Marilyn is a native Galápagonean who brings over 8 years of direct veterinary experience on the islands to the laboratory. Marilyn received her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Havana, Cuba; and has extensive expertise in both farm and small animal medicine. She is a SESA-SICGAL accredited agricultural inspector for the islands and has considerable experience with disease outbreaks in Galápagos: she was the co-ordinator of the Emergency Health Committee during the canine distemper epidemic on Santa Cruz in 2000-2001, and a participating veterinarian during outbreaks of porcine cholera in 1999 and bovine foot-and-mouth in 1997. Marilyn worked as a veterinarian managing the dogs for the Isabela project (eradication of invasive species) and has participated in a number of other crucial projects on Galápagos, such as the treatment of animals following the Jessica oil spill and the surveillance of bird diseases with the CDRS and St. Louis Zoo.

Leandro is the youngest member of the GGEPL team and has been working in molecular biology since 2001, obtaining his BSc. degree in 2003. He worked as a member of Concepto Azul (CA), which pioneered the use of molecular techniques here in Ecuador. His initial work was centred around the development of molecular diagnostics such as PCR and nucleic acid hybridisation to detect shrimp pathogens; and later the development and optimisation of molecular markers by RAPD, AFLP and SSCP. In 2002, Leandro was a participating member of the CA group which pioneered the first application of molecular techniques to Galápagos projects, he established diagnostic assays and examined genetic variation among three model pathogens present on the islands (Canine Distemper Virus, Avian Pox and Leptospiras). Leandro is currently pursuing his Masters in Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering with the University of Guayaquil programme and is interested in studying genetic variation in populations.