KEYNOTE SPEAKER.
Dr. Melania Guerra, from Costa Rica, received a Masters and Doctorate degrees in Oceanography from the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and worked as an academic researcher at Cornell University and the University of Washington. She specializes in understanding underwater sounds from marine species and the negative impacts they experience from anthropogenic noise, a type of pollution caused by industrial activities. Her extensive oceanography field work has focused on the Arctic Ocean, which is dramatically affected by climate change.
In 2018 Dr. Guerra was selected to the prestigious Nippon Fellowship of the United Nations Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea, a capacity building training in ocean governance and international law at the UN. With this expertise, she provides scientific advice to diplomatic delegations in international climate and ocean negotiation processes. Furthermore, she is an invited professor at the UN University for Peace, teaching Climate Governance.
In early 2019, Dr. Guerra represented Costa Rica in the Homeward Bound expedition to Antarctica, a global leadership initiative for women in science, thus becoming the second Costa Rican woman to do science in both polar regions. Drawing on the high visibility of her unique polar exploration experiences, Dr. Guerra shares carefully curated scientific content and blogs about climate change through her social media accounts “La Tica Polar”, currently reaching over 12,000 people across 50 countries.