Jorge Mario Montero P.O. Box 868-1200 San José, Costa Rica 231-3875 corobici@hotmail.com

Education

1994-1996 M. S. in Environmental Planning and Management.  The Institute for Environmental Studies.  Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La, U.S.A.  GPA 4.0/4.0.  Emphasis in remote sensing and environmental/energy planning.  Thesis title: Analysis of Implementation Barriers to Demand Side Management Programs for Electricity in Developing Countries: The Costa Rica Case.

1984-1989 Licenciate in Civil Engineering.  School of Civil Engineering.  Universidad de Costa Rica.  Emphasis in Transportation Planning.  Graduation Project: Application of a systems model to the study of urban growth of the Greater Metropolitan Area.  

Academic

1999 Professor.  Environmental Management for Business and Industrial Engineering majors.  Universidad Internacional de las Americas. Costa Rica..  

Honors

1994 Candidate.  Fullbright Graduate Scholarship Program.  Administered by  U.S. Information Service.  Costa Rica. 1994 Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad.  Full Scholarship to pursue graduate studies in Environmental Planning and  Management. 1989 Honorable mention.  Best admission score to Universidad de Costa Rica at Luis Dobles Segreda High School.  

Other courses

1999 Environmental Law (Costa Rica) 1998  Environmental Impact Assessment 1991  Safety Practice for Explosives Use (top of the class) 1990  Geotechnics Applied to Construction Works      

Work Experience

1/98- present Environmental Planner.  Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad.  Environmental Planning Unit.  Responsibilities, work and achievements include: - Watershed resource planning for hydro power - Proposed the CO2 mandatory reabsortion for Fuel-based Generators provision discussed in Congress within the General Electricity Law Project. - Technical supervision to fuel generation plants environmental management plan development, through an international cooperation agreement. - Environmental Impact Assessment of power projects.  Including high voltage transmission powerlines, associated transformer substations, and small hydropower projects. - Development of GIS facilities for Energy Planning Unit - Co-development of an Environmental Planning unit inside an Electricity Utility. - Co-determination of "Ecologic Flow Rate" for Cariblanco Hydropower Project. - Analysis of Impact and Proposal of Action for new and existing Energy/Environmental legislation (General Electricity Law, Reserve Area for Sarapiqui Basin, Environmental Services). - Technical panel member for Reventazon Watershed Management Plan contract ($1,5 million) - Co-development of multicriteria decision model for electricity development plans that include environmental, and financial considerations, as well as the usual economic analysis parameters. - Co-planning of a multidisciplinary environmental pre-assessement of areas of possible flooding in Grande de Terraba river basin. - Other problem-solving activities regarding project development and environment.  

2/97-present Environmental Impact Assessor.  Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad. Heavy construction engineer and environmental methods scientist in a multidisciplinary group assessing Environmental Impact for high voltage transmission powerlines and small/medium hydroprojects:

-Miravalles-Liberia 230 kV Powerline (20 mi) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). -Garita-Lindora-La Caja 230 kV Powerline and Transformer Station (20 mi) EIA -Parrita-Lindora 230 kV Powerline (45 mi ) and Tarbaca and Parrita Transformer Stations EIA -Cariblanco Hydroelectric Project (determination of “ecological” flow rate)

Responsible for:

- Safety and Environmental Impact of Transformer Substations. - Powerline and Transformer Substation siting co-determination. - Guiding peer engineers to environmental acceptable solutions. - Adapting Environmental Impact Evaluation methodologies to local conditions - Introduction to consideration of toxic chemicals in EIA - Environmental Impact of Hydropower Plant construction. - General Impact Valuation and Activity programming

9/96-12/97 Environmental Advisor.   Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).  Assistant to finance manager and other departments in environmental/resources planning issues.  Analysis of  non-traditional financing schemes for energy projects.  Review of economic valuation of environmental resources in benefit-cost analysis.  Advice for institutional environmental policy.

9/92-8/94 Construction Engineer and Design Group Coordinator.  Assistant to the General Manager.  Coordination of work logistics, camp location, payment authorization.  Technical support financing of Angostura Hydroelectric Project ($250 million). Cost model for tunnel construction (25 ft dia.) comparing excavation with a TBM and conventional  drill-and-blast methods.  Coordinator of design group that designed a passive underground water pressure abatement system in Angostura Hydroelectric Project Main Spillway (evacuation capacity 5,500 m3/s).  Execution of the works and construction site.  Location and design of dump sites for excavated materials (three sites for an excess of  5 million m3).

1/90-9/92 Construction Engineer.  Toro Hydroelectric Project.  Engineer responsible for the Toro 1 Main Water Intake General Excavation (over 150 000 m3).  Also responsible for pit management and operation,  administering the project's machinery fleet (over 35 units), and access road construction and maintenance (over 35  km) for the Project.

1985-1989 Internships.  Construction business including: assisting quality control in welded steel pipes, quality control technician for low-income housing, tunnel cost analyst, and engineering assistant for sanitary sewer designs.

Languages

Spanish: Excellent read, write and speak.  Native language. English:  Excellent read, write and speak.

Computer

 Windows 98, Office 97 and other MS software literate  Activities programming software (MS Project) Basic statistical packages operation (SAS)  Pascal/Basic programming  Basic GIS (Erdas, Idrisi) operation.  Internet literate (WWW, email clients)

Associations

1989- present Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y Arquitectos. Costa Rica. 1997- present Secretaría Técnica Ambiental Nacional, SETENA.  Authorized Consultant. Costa Rica

Hobbies

Photography, Outdoor Activities, Latin Dancing, International Travel & Culture

C:\career\montero.doc