I hold a bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering by the Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá-Colombia (2012-2017), during which I completed a 5-month academic exchange at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza-Argentina (2016). Subsequently, I earned a European Master's degree in Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Services from the University of Almeria (2018-2019), receiving the Extraordinary Master's Award for the best academic records in 2018-2019 academic year. In 2019, I began working as a research assistant in the LIFE project “Restoring desertified areas with an innovative method of tree cultivation across the Mediterranean border to increase resilience” led by the Andalusian Centre for Global Change - Hermelindo Castro at the University of Almeria. In 2020, I joined the Sustainability, Resilience and Governance of Socio-Ecological Systems Group (Sociecos) in the Department of Biology and Geology (University of Almeria), where I pursued a PhD funded by a University Teacher Training (FPU 2019) grant. My thesis, titled "Understanding conservation conflicts from social-ecological perspectives: analysis of cases in the Iberian Peninsula”, was awarded the distinction of Outstanding Cum Laude with International Mention (October 2024).
My PhD research employed social-ecological systems science to understand and manage conservation conflicts, considering the environmental justice perspective. The research had four specific objectives that aim at exploring these interactions in order to propose new strategies for sustainable management and conservation of biodiversity, with an emphasis on the European turtle-dove and wild boar in Spain. We sought to provide a comprehensive view of the challenges and opportunities for conservation in complex social-ecological systems contexts through a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including literature reviews, face-to-face surveys, and economic modelling. During my PhD, I undertook two research stays, totaling four months, at the Social-Ecological Systems Institute, a European research center at Leuphana University, Germany (September–December 2022 and September 2023). These stays allowed me to collaborate with interdisciplinary teams specializing in social-ecological systems science.
My research outcomes include a total of 13 scientific articles published in recognized international journals such as Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment (2023 Impact Factor = 10), Resources, Conservation and Recycling (2021 Impact Factor = 13,7), Global Environmental Change (2023 Impact Factor = 8,6) and Biological Conservation (2023 Impact Factor = 4,9). Additionally, I contributed a chapter to The Routledge Handbook of Cultural Ecosystem Services.
I have also participated in several national and international conferences through poster and oral presentations. My research training includes several complementary courses, which allowed me to acquire and improve knowledge and training on methods and technologies essential for academic career (e.g., GIS, statistics, qualitative methodologies, mixed methods). As PhD student, I taught a total of 127 hours of teaching on graduate courses focused on global change, social-ecological systems, ecology, introduction to field techniques and natural resources at the Biology and Geology Department of the University of Almeria. I have collaborated with research projects obtained in competitive national and international calls related to the restoration of desertified rural areas and the analysis of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem nexus. Since January 2025, I have been working as a postdoctoral researcher on the project “Evaluating biocultural diversity and social-ecological vulnerability for conserving rural areas in Spain (EmBraCe)” at the University of Almeria.
RESEARCH
My research interests focus on understanding biodiversity conservation challenges through the social-ecological systems framework and the valuation of ecosystem services.
RESEARCH GROUP: Sustainability, Resilience and Governance of Socio-Ecological Systems (RNM-933)
RESEARCH LINES
PROJECTS TO HIGHLIGHT
LIFE The GreenLink
