Ernesto is a native-born Costa Rican, speaks fluent English and Spanish and is one of his country's most outstanding young naturalists and bird guides. He conducts research on Cerulean Warbler migration, has tallied migrant raptors at Talmanca, and has studied orchid distribution. Ernesto is one of few scientists with extensive experience observing Ruby-throated Hummingbirds within Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Belize. He has been involved since 2004 with Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project, the only long-term banding study of RTHU on their Neotropical wintering grounds.

Ernesto's family runs Cafe Cristina, an environmentally friendly coffee farm near Paraiso that uses shade-grown organic techniques and recycles processing materials.

Follow Ernesto on Facebook and Cafe Cristina on Facebook.