Public Scholarship
Photo: BRS Conventions stand at the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury COP2, Geneva (2018)
I have communicated my research beyond the formal channels of academia through media engagements, policy papers, public events in American and Colombian universities, and side events at international negotiation sites. I have also consulted for various research centers, nonprofit environmental institutions in Latin America, and international organizations. This work has brought about multiple outputs like policy briefs and events that have reached practitioners, activists, decision-makers, and the broader public. Another instance of the impact of my publications is that my work was recently cited by the Colombian Constitutional Court in a landmark ruling on environmental forced displacement.
Reports and policy briefs for environmental non-profits and research centers (non-peer reviewed)
2015. La adaptación al cambio climático como pauta para resolver tensiones entre conservación y uso de páramos. Experiencias comparadas, recomendaciones y rutas de gestión. Bogotá: Alexander von Humboldt Biodiversity Research Institute.
Public engagement and collaborations with human rights and environmental non-profits
In 2014, I provided legal counsel to the Afro-Colombian communities of the Consejo Comunitario of La Barra (Buenaventura) on the Colombian Pacific Coast in their quest to secure their collective land title. A year later, the government granted the Consejo Comunitario of La Barra a collective land title (Res, 3354/2015 Incoder).
Between 2016 and 2023, I had a courtesy appointment as an affiliated clinical professor at the Universidad de los Andes' Legal Clinic on Environment and Public Health. I advised the Clinic's work on toxics and human rights and occasionally supervised students' theses.
Since 2019, I have served on the board of the Colombia-based environmental nonprofit Center for Marine Justice.
In 2020, I worked as the Research Director of Environmental Justice at the Colombia-based human rights organization Dejusticia. I had previously worked there as a researcher between 2008 and 2011.
In 2022, I was one of the co-signers of the Open Letter calling for an International Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering.
In 2023, I wrote a blurb for the book The Heart of Our Earth: Community resistance to mining in Latin America.
Media Engagement and Interviews
2023. Noticias Telemundo (USA). Interview for TV story (Nov 15, 2023). "Los detalles de la "crucial" reunión entre Biden y Jingping en medio de recientes tensiones."
2023. La Patria (Bolivia). Interview for online story (Nov 27, 2023). "Minería ilegal en la Amazonía expone a comunidades indígenas al mercurio."
2020. El Espectador (Colombia). Interview for online story (Oct 28, 2020). “¿Quién le teme al Acuerdo de Escazú?”.
2020. BBC News (Latin America). Interview for online story (Jun 8, 2020). “Cómo creció en Sudamérica el tráfico ilegal de mercurio en los últimos años”.
2013. El Espectador (Colombia). Interview for online story (Jan 30, 2013). “Se enreda reforma del Código de Minas”.
2012. El Espectador (Colombia). Interview for online story (Oct 25, 2012). “¿En qué va la reforma al Código Minero?”.
2012. La Silla Vacia (Colombia). Interview for online story (Oct 25, 2012). “Colombia: Cosigo, la punta de lanza de la minería en la Amazonía”.
2011. Razón Pública (Colombia). Op-ed (Oct 24, 2011). “Nuevo Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible: ¿Licenciamiento ambiental a la medida de la gran minería?”.
Impact of Publications in Court decisions
In 2024, the Colombian Constitutional Court cited my 2018 co-authored book on human mobility and the environment in a landmark ruling (T-123 of 2024) that recognized the existence of internal forced displacement in Colombia due to environmental factors, including events associated with climate change, and protected the rights of an adult couple forced to move due to constant floodings of the Bojabá River.
In 2019, the Colombian Constitutional Court cited my work on mercury and gold mining in Latin America in a ruling (C-275 of 2019) that decided that the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury was consistent with the Colombian Constitution.
Side Events at multilateral environmental agreements' Conferences of the Parties (COPs)
2023. Moderator of side event "Amazonian Indigenous Governments' Role towards Convention Implementation.” organized by UNEP and Fundación Gaia Amazonas. Fifth Conference of the Parties (COP5) to the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury. CICG, Geneva and online, November 11th, 2023.
2022. Co-organizator of Pre-Minamata Convention COP4.2 Side Event "Diálogo intercultural sobre Mercurio, Minería, Salud y Derechos Colectivos". Second Segment of the Fourth Conference of the Parties (COP4.2) to the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury. Co-organized by FENAMAD. COIAB, and the Indigenous Council of Yaigojé-Apaporis, supported by Fundación Gaia Amazonas, UC Berkeley, and UW-Madison. Bali and online, March 8, 2022
2018. Panelist on "Mercury policies in the Amazon Biome countries: an overview" at the Side event “Uniting to stop the mercury crisis in the Amazon”. Organized by WWF. Second Conference of the Parties (COP2) to the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury. Geneva, November 17, 2018.
Between 2017 and 2022, I was the University of California, Berkeley's accredited representative to the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury. In 2017, I led the University of California, Berkeley's application to become an accredited observer to the convention.