Maria A. Mejia: Curriculum Vitae

 Education

2016 - present

2005 - 2010

Bachelor of Arts in Economics
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

2004 - 2009

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

2006 - 2008

Minor in Architecture and City
Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Profesional Experience   

7.2018 - 9.2018

Consultant. The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)
Manila, The Philippines

9.2011 - 9.2016

Researcher. Land Management Program. The National Research Institute of Biodiversity ‘Alexander von Humboldt’
Bogotá, Colombia

1.2010 - 7.2011

Advisor. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia
Bogotá, Colombia

9.2009 - 12.2009

Advisor. Ministry of Environment, Housing and Land Planning of Colombia
Bogotá, Colombia

Academic Experience   

8.2009 - 12.2009

Student helper - Lecture on Asian Development.
4 hours - Lecture. The course introduced students to Asia’s development pathways, stressing out how cultural, political and traditional aspects played a crucial role in such economic transition.
School of Economics. Universidad de Los Andes.
Bogotá, Colombia

8.2008 - 12.2009

Student helper - Lecture on Sustainable Development.
4 hours – Lecture. The aim of the course was to analyze the relationship between Economy and Ecology in the frame of sustainable development policies and practices.
School of Economics. Universidad de Los Andes.
Bogotá, Colombia

Internships   

01.2018 - 06.2018

The German Agency for International Cooperation, GIZ Office Manila
Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA), an international partnership initiative established in 2007, by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Germany. It provides assistance to medium-sized cities in Asia and the Pacific to bridge the gap between their development plans and the implementation of their infrastructure investments.
Manila, The Philippines

10.2017 - 12.2017

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
EPICC project: Enhancing climate capacities in the Global South
Potsdam, Germany

Publications  

2018

Mejía MA, Hagedorn T. (2018). Bridging Capacity Gaps in Cities and People In Rubencia A., Dytianquin C., Ringhof E. & Baudler-Voigt O. (Eds.) Bridging Cities, People and Sustainable Development (pp. 58-78). Metro Manila: Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA); 2018

2017

Mejía MA, editor. Urban Nature: Platform of Experiences. 2nd ed. Bogotá: Instituto Alexander von Humboldt; 2017

2016

Mejía MA, editor. Naturaleza urbana: Plataforma de Experiencias. 1st ed. Bogotá: Instituto Alexander von Humboldt; 2016

11.2014

Mejía MA. Decisiones de ciudad: reto fundamental para la gestión de la biodiversidad. In: Bello JC et al. editors. Biodiversidad 2014: Estado y tendencias de la biodiversidad continental de Colombia.1st ed. Bogotá: Instituto Alexander von Humboldt; 2014

11.2014

Alcaldía de Medellín, Corporación Parque Explora, Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Jardín Botánico de Medellín, Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, Sociedad Antioqueña de Ornitología. Propuesta para la gestión integral de la biodiversidad y sus servicios ecosistémicos en Medellín: Síntesis del documento técnico de soporte. 1st ed. Medellín: Alcaldía de Medellín;2014

11.2014

Mariño J, Mejía MA, Quimbayo G (2014) Urban-regional environments in Colombia: Emerging ecosystems, emerging logics. Current Conservation, 8, 23-25.

Participation in blogs   

6.2018

Mejía MA. and Echeverri, J. A City for Life: Medellín’s Plan to Protect and Promote Urban Biodiversity. URBANET.

10.2017

Mejía MA. Such is Life in the Urban Tropics. Situated Urban Political Ecology Collective (SUPE).

Science schools, workshops, others   

5.2019

Parks for the Planet Forum “Partnerships for Urban Wellbeing and Resilience: Harnessing Nature and Protected Areas for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Salzburg, Austria

8.2018

The Sixth Global Environments Summer Academy (GESA 2018). Global Diversity Foundation and University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI) and Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science (ICCS).
United Kingdom

8.2017

International Summer School „Explore – Share – Perform: Arts & Science in Urban Context“. Ruhr University of Bochum
Bochum, Germany

7.2016

The Fourth SURE-ECNU Summer School of Urban Ecology
Shanghai, China

7.2012

The First Latin American Course on Urban Ecology. Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento.
Buenos Aires, Argentina

7.2012

Workshop ‘Can there be a Science of Cities’. Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe, New Mexico. USA.

7.2009

Latin American Development in the long run. Instructors: James Robinson & Sebastián Mazzuca (Harvard University). Universidad de Los Andes.
Bogotá, Colombia.

7.2009

Micro-Econometrics for Impact Assessment. Instructor: Sebastián Galliani (St. Louis University) Universidad de Los Andes.
Bogotá, Colombia.

Conferences  

6.2019

The Nature of Cities Summit.
Paris, France

7.2017

Speaker. European Environmental Science Student Association - EURENSSA 2017 Conference “Creating the Sustainable City”
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

4.2017

Participant. Green Infrastructure: Nature based solutions for sustainable and resilient cities.
Orvieto, Italy

3.2017

Volunteer. The Fifth Plenary Meeting of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services –IPBES.
Bonn, Germany

7.2016

Participant. Second Congress of the Society of Urban Ecology (SURE).
Shanghai, China

11.2015

Participant. The 8th World ESP Conference ‘Ecosystem Services for Nature, People and Prosperity’.
Biome Working Group on Urban Systems.
Stellenbosh, South Africa

9.2015

Co-organizer and speaker. First SURE Latin-American Symposium on Urban Ecology in association with the Society of Urban Ecology (SURE).
Bogotá, Colombia.

6.2015

Speaker. 21st International Symposium on Society and Resource Management ‘Understanding and Adapting to Change’. International Association for Society and Natural Resources - IASNR.
South Carolina, USA.

8.2014

Speaker. BioDiverCities and Climate Change International Congress. Botanical Garden of Medellín.
Medellín, Colombia.

Seminars, others   

4.2014

Participant and focal point. VII World Urban Forum ‘Cities for Life’. The UN-HABITAT, the Ministry of Housing of Colombia and the Local Government of Medellín City.
Medellín, Colombia.

12.2013

Table Rapporteur. Multi-stakeholder Dialogue ‘Integrating Social-Ecological Resilience into the New Development Agenda’.
Colombia’s Alexander von Humboldt Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden organised the Dialogue with the strong support of the Governments of Colombia and Sweden, and in consultation with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Economic support for the Dialogue was provided by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through The Resilience and Development Programme (SwedBio) at Stockholm Resilience Centre.
Medellín, Colombia.

5.2013

Volunteer. First International Symposium on Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services. Humboldt Institute.
Bogotá, Colombia.