Franklin Ramirez

Edison Franklin Ramirez was born in one of the new provinces of Ecuador, Santo Domingo de los Sáchilas, also known as Santo Domingo de los Colorados; after the local ethnic group that uses a red dye made from achiote (from annatto seeds) to color their hair hence they call themselves the “Colorados”.

Frank studied there until he was 10 years old and then moved to Quito, where his middle studies were in Chemistry and Biology; he attended the medical school in the same city. He started visiting the Galápagos from an early age, as his brothers used to work as crew members on different ships. In 1993, he left his studies and moved to the islands, and soon became a volunteer for the Charles Darwin Research Station, where he worked on different projects; this is where his passion for Galápagos began. He became a naturalist the same year and later would become a dive master and specialized as a dive-guide for the Galápagos Marine Reserve.

As part of his experience, he has worked as a translator and a guide in the Ecuadorian Amazon and has travelled and studied the wildlife in Central and South America. He has been living and working in Galápagos since 1993.