Juan Darío Restrepo holds a PhD from the Marine Science Program at University of South Carolina. Following on from his PhD, Dr Restrepo has continued to carry out research in environmental oceanography of deltas and estuaries, and coastal lagoons waters, with focus on the factors controlling water discharge, sediment load, and dissolved load to the ocean from the Pacific and Caribbean rivers of Colombia. His current research focuses on improving the understanding of the morphodynamics of the Caribbean and Pacific deltas of Colombia. He has been head of the Magdalena River Science Initiative in Colombia, and is currently a full professor of Geological Sciences at EAFIT University, Colombia. Professor Restrepo has been involved as a resource scientist for the sub-programs of LOICZ-IGBP Basins, SAmBas (South American Basins) and CariBas (Caribbean Basins), and also, as a member of the Scientific Steering Committees of LOICZ-IGBP and Colciencias (Colombia) in the Marine Science Program. Currently he is one of the co-authors in the Coastal Communities and Systems and Caribbean Assessment Chapters of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) and a visiting professor of the European Union in the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Program in Water and Coastal Management. His address: Department of Geology EAFIT University, Carrera 49 No. 7 sur-50, Medellín, Colombia.