About the Founder: Damacio A. Lopez

Damacio A. Lopez is a scholar, author, and globally recognized environmental advocate who has dedicated more than four decades to the eradication of depleted uranium (DU) munitions. A U.S. Air Force veteran who served during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Lopez later pursued a career as a professional golfer before uncovering a crisis that would fundamentally alter his life’s trajectory.

In 1986, Lopez discovered that depleted uranium weapons were being tested in the open air on Socorro Mountain in New Mexico—less than two miles downwind from his family home. Witnessing the severe, unexplained health anomalies impacting his local community, he realized that the toxic and radioactive footprint of military testing was hitting close to home.

Driven to turn local awareness into global action, Lopez co-founded the International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST) in 2000. Under his leadership as Executive Director, IDUST became a vital node in international peace and environmental networks. He traveled to more than 30 countries—including Iraq, Japan, and the Balkans—to investigate contaminated battlefields, document the health crises of exposed civilians and military veterans, and present findings before the United Nations.

Lopez’s work has bridged grassroots activism, scientific scholarship, and international policy. He is a principal co-founder of the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW), has authored numerous foundational treatises on radioactive military waste, and served as the American Southwest Director for the International Uranium Film Festival. In October 2025, the International Uranium Film Festival in Berlin honored him with its prestigious Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating his tireless pursuit of a global treaty to ban uranium weapons—a fight he chronicles in his profound dossier and memoir, My Last Battle: Ban Uranium Weapons.