But this spring and summer, Borboroglu — who is president of the and a ÌìÃÀÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½ affiliate associate professor of biology — worked in trips to Europe and the United States to receive two separate awards for his career in penguin research and advocacy.

In April, Borboroglu was in London at the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society to receive , also known as the “Green Oscar,” from the Whitley Fund for Nature. Princess Anne, daughter of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, presented Borboroglu with the award, which includes 60,000 British pounds in project funding. This fall, citing his Whitley Gold Award and other accolades, the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine National Congress in his honor.

In June, Borboroglu traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive a from the National Geographic Society, which includes a $25,000 prize.

“Both ceremonies were incredible,” said Borboroglu. “It was great to be allowed to increase the visibility of the conservation problems that penguins and the oceans are facing — and how the Global Penguin Society is addressing them worldwide.”

For nearly three decades, Borboroglu has been involved in studies of penguins and conservation efforts for these Southern Hemisphere, flightless birds. Through the Global Penguin Society, he promotes protections for all 18 penguin species — more than half of which are threatened, according to Borboroglu. He directs these endeavors from his native Argentina, where he is also a permanent researcher with the National Research Council of Argentina.

“Penguins are great indicators of the health of our oceans and coasts,” said Borboroglu, who became a UW affiliate faculty member in 2009. “In the ocean, they are affected by climate change, marine pollution and fishing activity; on land, human disturbance and the introduction of predators reduce their breeding success.”

“Through science, management and education, we address these threats at a small scale where penguins nest and at larger scales where they swim hundreds of kilometers to feed and migrate,” he added.

Through the Global Penguin Society, Borboroglu advocates for the establishment of protected areas for penguins to nest and feed — as well as educational trips for students to penguin habitats. He led efforts to establish the , a UNESCO preserve encompassing more than 3 million hectares established in 2015, which Borboroglu considers the proudest moment of his career to date. The reserve encompasses the most biodiverse stretch of Argentine coastline, including Punta Tombo, home to one of the world’s largest nesting sites for Magellanic penguins. He also spearheaded efforts to off the coast of Punta Tombo.

Borboroglu’s work, particularly with Magellanic penguins, has made him a frequent collaborator with , a UW professor of biology and leader in penguin conservation efforts through the UW-based . Boersma has studied Magellanic penguins at Punta Tombo for decades, collecting data on population size, nesting, breeding, chick survival and adult health.

Borboroglu’s primary research goal is to understand how and why penguins shift nesting and feeding sites. Over the past two years his group has surveyed 34 Magellanic penguin colonies across northern Patagonia. His data indicate that Magellanic penguins may be shifting their distribution northward. This move may be due to oceanographic conditions or human activities, Borboroglu said.

Though he studies penguins, changing human behavior is one of his major goals as a conservationist.

“In 1920, when my grandmother would visit penguins, the world had less than 2 billion people,” Borboroglu said. “Now, the global population is around 7.5 billion human beings. It is clear that we must learn to coexist with wildlife, especially since 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity exists outside of protected areas. As researchers and conservationists, our challenge is to develop a conservation culture with a wiser and more sustainable relationship with nature.”

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They live far from the North Pole, but Christmas came early for the stout-bodied, black and white Magellanic penguins of Patagonia’s region. On Dec. 3, the legislature for Chubut province established a new marine protected area off Punta Tombo, which would help preserve the feeding grounds for about 500,000 that make their home along this rocky stretch of Argentine coast.

“This is really exciting. We’ve long wanted to see the waters around Punta Tombo protected,” said ÌìÃÀÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½ biology professor , who has been studying the Magellanic penguins there for more than 30 years. “This has to be one of the few marine protected areas that’s saving prey species for these penguins — things like shrimp, anchovies and hake.”

In a statement, UW biology affiliate associate professor added, “This new [marine protected area] designation is an historical accomplishment, since [until now] there is only one protected area in Argentina that is exclusively marine and only 4 percent of the marine surface of the country is currently protected.”

Law 103/15 passed the Chubut legislature with backing from the , its co-founder and president Borboroglu and teams of scientists led by Boersma, who provided key data about the penguins from their decades of research at Punta Tombo. The government and the Global Penguin Society agreed to the marine protected area in 2013, and Borboroglu drafted the proposal and designed the protected area. Critically, he also made regular trips to Rawson, the provincial capital, to explain its importance to legislators, answer questions, negotiate details and monitor the bill’s progress.

“This wouldn’t have happened without him,” said Boersma. “The legislature had put off the vote for months, and then on Dec. 3 they voted — and just in the nick of time, too.”

Approval came just before the Chubut legislature adjourned ahead of the inauguration of a new president in Buenos Aires and the appointment of new provincial governors. Had the law not passed before this important transition, conservationists would have had to start the legislative process over with a new administration.

The Punta Tombo Marine Protected Area will stretch along 37 miles of coastline, encompassing a 3 nautical mile area of coastal ocean. Since Punta Tombo is the world’s largest nesting site for Magellanic penguins, the legislation provides protection to the waters the penguins depend upon for survival. It calls for regulation of fishing practices to preserve key species for the penguins as well as sustainable use of the marine ecosystem. In addition, the law calls for adoption of these conservation goals to a 12 nautical mile area offshore.

Scientists, including Boersma and Borboroglu, advocated for marine protections amid mounting evidence that the penguins at Punta Tombo are feeling the strain of a stressed marine food supply. Around 40 percent of penguin chicks there succumb to starvation annually, and the average distance adult penguins must swim to feed has increased by 50 miles over the past decade. Magellanic penguins are classified as “near threatened” by the .

“We’ve been protecting them on land for 33 years, and now the penguins finally have their food protected at sea,” said Boersma.

Establishment of the marine protected area comes on the heels of action earlier this year by UNESCO to incorporate 3.1 million hectares of land in and around Punta Tombo as the , a move also proposed and prepared for by the Global Penguin Society. According to Boersma, the biosphere reserve will help preserve the nesting site from development and encourage ecotourism to the area, which already sees over 100,000 visitors annually. To celebrate this double victory for the penguins of Punta Tombo, Boersma is establishing a UW Endowed Chair in Natural History and Conservation to support conservation studies, offering to match donations up to $75,000 before the end of 2015.

“2015 has been a great year for the penguins of Punta Tombo,” said Boersma. “We are very excited to do long-term studies of them now.”

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For more information, contact Borboroglu in Argentina at +54-280-4455624 or globalpenguinsociety@gmail.com. For information on the endowed chair established by Boersma, contact Lily Ly at 206-543-2235 or lily214@uw.edu.