Executive Director of the Regional Water Center for Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAZALAC), an UNESCO category 2 centre located in La Serena, Chile.

Dr. Mancilla is a Forest Engineer (University of Chile, 1995), with a Master and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Science (Land and Water Engineering) at Washington State University (2001 and 2004, respectively). He worked as a faculty and researcher at the University of Chile from 1995 to 2013, developing research projects in Chile and in the United States. As a university researcher, his work was dedicated to forest hydrology, soil erosion, watershed management, torrent control, sediment transport, among others. He also developed environmental studies at Patagonia in Chile. At CAZALAC, Dr. Mancilla has conducted studies in water use efficiency, rural water systems, innovation systems for water use, integrated water resources management, hydrology in the arid zones, etc. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses at different universities and advised research thesis at both levels.  

He is currently the Vice-President of the Chile’s National Committee for the UNESCO International Hydrological Program, and the coordinator for the G-WADI Program for the Latin America and the Caribbean region.