Experience
From academia to applied research — bridging knowledge and action.
I'm a Peruvian climate, conservation, and nature-based solutions specialist with over 15 years of experience delivering projects across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Over the years, I've managed complete project lifecycles, coordinated implementing partners, and delivered high quality monitoring, reporting, and donor facing outputs across landscape level initiatives. Throughout my career, I've worked in international organisations and universities, including CIFOR-ICRAF, Durham University, and the University of St Andrews, contributing to research, teaching, and applied conservation work worldwide.
My work centres on forest governance and rights based, gender transformative approaches to conservation and climate action. I care deeply about turning technical data and field insights into practical, impact-oriented guidance that people can actually use. Much of what I do involves building and nurturing partnerships across cultures, with NGOs, Indigenous and local organisations, and governments, across a wide range of implementation contexts.
Programme Leadership
I've led multi-country programme design and delivery, managed multidisciplinary teams of up to 22 staff and consultants, and guided complex portfolios through adaptive management.
Technical Expertise
Land tenure and governance reform; rights-based approaches to conservation and climate finance; political economy and institutional analysis; mediation and conflict transformation; multi-stakeholder process design and facilitation.
Programme Design, Strategy & MEL
I design programmes and projects, build monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems, and manage budgeting, risk, and quality assurance.
Capacity Development
I design adult and online learning experiences, lead trainings and facilitation, and support organisational strengthening for governments, Indigenous organisations, NGOs, researchers, and community leaders.
Resource Mobilisation
I develop proposals and manage donor relationships (IKI, USAID, NORAD/NICFI, Darwin Initiative, Moore Foundation, ESRC, among others), along with grant evaluation and reporting.
Research & Analytical Methods
I work across qualitative and mixed-methods research (ethnography, interviews, participatory and Q-methodology approaches), comparative and realist synthesis, and policy and legal analysis.
Knowledge Production & Impact
I've authored 120+ publications and outputs, cited 1,400+ times, and I enjoy translating research into policy and practice across land and climate governance.
Languages
I'm fluent in English and Spanish, and I read French and Portuguese.
January 2026 – Present
Independent Technical Advisor
Senior Associate · Collaborating for Resilience
Since January 2026, I've worked as an independent advisor providing technical support on multi-stakeholder environmental governance processes. I'm affiliated as Senior Associate with Collaborating for Resilience, supporting tools and guides for collaborative governance. I've also provided consultancy for the International Land and Forest Tenure Facility in Latin America, and capacity development support for the World Bank and the Global Diversity Foundation.
February 2017 – December 2025
CIFOR-ICRAF
Scientist
Over nearly nine years at CIFOR-ICRAF, one of the world's leading centers for forest and agroforestry research, I designed and led six multi-country projects on climate change mitigation and adaptation, conservation, jurisdictional carbon programs, rights-based and gender-transformative approaches, and land governance across Latin America, Africa, and Asia. I led multicultural, interdisciplinary teams of up to 22 people, contributed to raising more than US$18M in project funding, and managed over US$2.5M in project resources. My work has been published extensively and cited more than 1,500 times.
September 2014 – January 2017
Durham University
Assistant Professor / Lecturer in the Anthropology of Development
At Durham, I designed and delivered undergraduate and postgraduate courses across Social Anthropology, Conflict Studies, International Development, and Area Studies. I supervised three PhD theses and more than twenty postgraduate and undergraduate dissertations, while securing funding for and implementing research projects on well-being, conflict resolution, and intercultural dialogue in the Amazon.
September 2011 – August 2014
University of St Andrews
Teaching Fellow in Social Anthropology
At St Andrews, I taught Social Anthropology in the university's Evening Degree programme for mature students, supervised dissertations, delivered public lectures, and organized national conferences. I also designed and carried out research on well-being among Amazonian Indigenous Peoples, applying ethnographic and participatory methods and training Indigenous researchers in field methods.
I'm always open to new collaborations, partnerships, and conversations — if you'd like to connect, don't hesitate to get in touch by email or LinkedIn.