Benicio is a New Trier High School student who started his conservation work as the youngest official wildlife activist for Project Coyote, giving presentations at his high school about banning Wildlife Killing Contests (WKC) in Illinois, writing articles about it, and working with State Representatives to introduce a bill banning WKC. He also engaged with other animal protection groups to form coalitions to support passing such bill. It was during this coalition building that he met Nicole Milan, who was just starting the "Rocky the Coyote" Campaign. Benicio joined the effort to release of “Rocky the Coyote” to The Wild Animal Sanctuary by organizing rallies, writing OpEds in newspapers and testifying in front of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.

During a trip in 2018, he discovered the Tropical Rainforest of the Osa Peninsula and realized that without more conservation efforts, The Corcovado National Park buffer zone would soon be destroyed and with it hundreds of species would go extinct. To help promote eco-tourism for his peer high school students, he created service trips for the BioSur Foundation. He is thrilled to continue working with BioSur-Lands for Biological Diversity President Jim Cordoba in the grant writing team.