Marino Protti obtained his Bachelor degree in geology at the University of Costa Rica in 1983 and a postgraduate degree in Seismology in Japan in 1984. He got his MSc. and PhD. in Earth Sciences and Geophysics at the University of California in Santa Cruz in 1991 and 1994, respectively. In 2018 he obtained a Masters Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy at the National University of Costa Rica. He studies subduction processes that generate large earthquakes. His studies have been focused on the Middle American Trench. Working with colleagues from Germany, USA and Japan, he helped build and operate a very dense geodynamic control network specifically designed to record the processes that lead to the occurrence of the Nicoya (Mw=7.6) 2012 earthquake. In 2013 and 2016, he was part of two expeditions to Antarctica. Marino Protti has been Director of the Costa Rica Volcanological and Seismological Observatory, a Research Institute at the National University, for the periods 1985-1988, 1997-2002 and 2019-2023. Marino Protti has organized more than 10 international workshops and congresses. In 1996 he was awarded with the Clodomiro Picado Twight National Price in Science and in 2002 the National University awarded him with the Roberto Brenes Mesén Price for Academic Excellence. From 2004 to 2018, Marino Protti was the Secretary of the National Academy of Science of Costa Rica. In 2022 he was honored with the Ambassador Award of the American Geophysical Union.
