Arlo Cansino

(April 2021 - Current)

Arlo Cansino is a graduate from the University of Belize and holds a Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management. His decision to venture into tourism came from his love of country and his memories of family vacations in Belize. His love of country grew from traveling throughout Belize to seeking change for Belize. Arlo’s career started at the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) where he worked primarily with rural communities that were outside of the tourism belts. The Destination Development Department’s goal was to identify and develop programs to provide these communities access to the tourism industry. This included site development, trainings and exhibitions. It was there that he began seeing opportunities for the improvement in access to basic health services.

He became familiar with The Belize Vector and Ecology (BVEC) through Marla Cansino, who had been working alongside Donovan Leiva and lead by Sanjeev Mahabir. Here he was exposed to the realities of vector-borne diseases and the research being done in Belize. After leaving the BTB, he worked with Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD), an NGO that manages the largest plot of protected areas in Belize. While in the field, he came across field staff who constantly suffered from
Leishmaniasis, a vector-borne disease seen primarily affecting forest rangers and military personnel. He became even more fascinated with vector-borne diseases and the challenges in treatment. So, when the opportunity came to work for BVEC as Program Coordinator, he was very excited to be part of a great team whose goal is to understand and fight these vector-borne diseases.

Arlo hopes that his experience in project management, community outreach and his natural curiosity for science will help BVEC further its influence in Belize for a safer and healthier community.