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Biokryptos is a non-profit (501 (c) 3) organization composed of naturalists and explorers dedicated to the concept that global biodiversity can only be protected when it is completely cataloged and understood. To do this, we need everyone involved in the process. To fulfill our mission, we work with indigenous people in parts of the world that are under surveyed and under explored, analyzing and filling gaps in scientific research and understanding. We work using technology for knowledge swaps, empowering local groups to share their knowledge with the industrialized global north while exporting environmentally safe low impact technology to help explore the unique ecosystems we work in. Our flagship project is Tepui Watch, part of our effort to catalog the sum total biodiversity of Venezuela's largest Tepui, Auyan Tepui. As our project grows, we hope to expand to the more than fifty tepuis of the Guiana Highlands, many of which have never been explored or surveyed in depth.

Biokryptos is continually cataloging new distributions for lowland animals on the tepuis. See what we have discovered

Expeditions into new places, and new perspectives

Examine our latest research questions, and explore new topics in tepui biodiversity

See how we map our routes, explore beautiful and majestic vistas, and check out how the latest technology helps discover new species and solves old mysteries

Where we work

Biokryptos is global in scope; we work where we can fulfill our mission of cataloging the biodiversity of remote under-surveyed ecosystems. Our project Tepui Watch takes place on Auyan Tepui, Venezuela. Venezuela's majestic Tepuis are enormous sandstone mesas, mountain plateaus which protrude thousands of meters above the surrounding jungles and savannas. There are hundreds of these quartz sandstone structures across an area known as the Guiana Shield, a geomorphic region which stretches from Colombia to Venezuela and Guiana and south into Northern Brazil. The Tepuis collectively form a unique biogeographical province known as Pantepui, and host a myriad of endemic vascular plants and animals found no where else on earth. Many of the tepuis remain only minimally surveyed, and the most remote tepuis have never been visited by humans.

With a summit area of 700 square kilometers, and 200 square kilometers of talus slope, Auyan is the largest tepui. It is the location of Angel Falls, the worlds tallest waterfall. Despite its international fame, Auyan is remote and devoid of tourists on the summit. Large areas of it remain minimally surveyed, and vast areas are completely untouched. Biokryptos camera trap records have proven that the summit maintains a larger number of vertebrates than previously thought, and its sum total biodiversity remains unknown.

TepuiWatch

Tepui Watch is our innovative and ambitious project to assess the sum total biodiversity of a Tepui summit. These semi-isolated plateau mountains contain a tremendous diversity of endemic species, many of which are understudied and threatened by global climate change. Tepui Watch uses camera traps under the supervision of our Pemon field experts to catalog life in a place few scientists have gone. We are the first non-profit to use camera traps on a Tepui, and the results are spectacular while being minimally invasive in this unique ecosystem.

The organization started when the founder, Laszlo Barkoczy, noticed information and research gaps in scientific literature concerning the tepui ecosystems of the Guiana Shield. While the cause of these research and knowledge gaps are multifaceted, at their core lies an unfortunate phenomena - the knowledge of indigenous people and local scientists was being omitted from official literature in many cases. When this epistemic gap is viewed in the lens of Global Climate Change, a terrifying situation emerges: we are experiencing global species extinction without a complete understanding of the places we seek to preserve from destruction. Solving and filling these gaps - areas of knowledge which were either contradictory, not complete, or riddled with imprecise information, is the foundation of Biokryptos. Biokryptos seeks to change this situation using technology for knowledge swaps, empowering local groups to share their knowledge with scientists in the industrialized north while we export environmentally safe low-impact technology to help manage and explore unique and threatened ecosystems. Biokryptos has four methodological pillars which make our mission possible:

Meet the Biokrypto Team

Laszlo B. Hadik-Barkoczy
CEO
Mr. Laszlo Bela Hadik-Barkoczy is the President and CEO of Biokryptos. He graduated from San Francisco State University in 2008 with a B.A. in International Relations, focusing on Security and Development. His blog Biokryptos is the result of his work investigating the intersection of International Relations theory and the realities of global climate change, tracking how organizations and the international system responds to new developments in the biological sciences and natural world.
Mary E. Hadik-Barkoczy
Treasurer
Mary is a founding member of Biokryptos and Tepui Watch, and participated in the first large scale expedition to Auyan Tepui in 2014. Mary has an AA in Anthropology and an AS in Interior Design, and over 10 years in green/ecological design and construction in California. Mary’s unique perspective and experience in green design and sustainable building and cultural studies helps Biokryptos focus on the connection between nature and human society
Alberto Pomares
Secretary
Mr. Pomares is a well-known Venezuelan photographer, avid naturalist and scuba diver, with decades of experience photographing all aspects of Venezuelan society and natural history. A seasoned Tepui explorer, Mr. Pomares uses his years of field work, expedition planning, and GIS analysis to assist the efforts of Biokryptos.
Vittorio Assandria
Board member, logistics/expedition leader
Mr. Assandria is an accomplished pilot, who since 1998 has been engaged in philanthropic assistance to the Pemon community in Kamarata. He is a board member of the Jimmie Angel Historical Society, and a member of Fundaccion Etnika, and a founding member of Aviación para la Salud, (ALAS) Aviation for Health. Mr. Assandria is a tremendous asset to Biokryptos, his expertise as a pilot and leader makes him invaluable in the continuing success of Biokryptos field operations.

Board continued

Paul Stanley
Board member, travel and opperations
Mr. Stanley is the founder and president of Angel Conservation and Angel Ecotours, and works with other non-profits and organizations which promote and develop sustainable tourism. Mr. Stanley has spearheaded many projects in the Kamarata Valley to assist and promote the health and well being of the Pemon. He is deeply interested in maintaining the cultural identity of the Pemon people, and has initiated projects to assist the Pemon to maintain their culture and develop sustainable methods in tourism in Canaima and Kamarata.
Randall Chiu
Board member, scientific adviser
A seasoned scientists, Randall began working as a laboratory assistant for the US Geological Survey since 2003 while studying math at University of Colorado at Boulder. After receiving his math degree, Randall returned to college to work on a second bachelor’s in chemistry then entered the chemistry PhD program at CU. Through CU, Randall has had the great privilege of working on a lab campaign with colleagues in Lyon, France. Randall’s research involves fatty acid chemistry at the air-sea interface. Randall has been involved in technical experimentation and research design for Biokryptos since before the inception of our non-profit, and assists in continuing improvements for Biokryptos field research methods.
Arturo Berti
Lead investigator
Principle investigator and experienced Pemon guide in the Kamarata Valley, Arturo contributes his invaluable observational acumen regarding faunal distribution on Auyan Tepui. As an expedition leader of Angel Ecotours and contributor to Angel Conservation, Mr. Berti brings years of field experience and an intimate knowledge of the Tepui ecosystems to Biokryptos. Mr. Berti is fluent in English, Spanish, and Pemon, and conversant in Japanese and German. Mr. Berti has been with Biokryptos since its inception, and is founding member of project Tepui Watch.

Biokryptos

Who We Are

Discoveries

Expeditions

Mysteries and Frontiers

Overflights and technology

Where we work

TepuiWatch

History and Mission

Survey and analyze the biodiversity of rare and threatened ecosystems, in particular areas with significant global cultural importance.

Identify and close research gaps by working with indigenous peoples.

Engage in information for technology transfers to enable indigenous groups and scientists to better survey and conserve their own lands.

Explore Biodiversity Archives

Herpetofauna

Avifauna

Invertebrates

Meet the Biokrypto Team

Laszlo B. Hadik-Barkoczy

Mary E. Hadik-Barkoczy

Alberto Pomares

Vittorio Assandria

Board continued

Paul Stanley

Randall Chiu

Arturo Berti

Biokryptos Blog

Contact

Biokryptos