Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate Change in the Global South

Dr. Simone Lucatello is a Professor-Researcher at the Research Institute Dr. José María Luis Mora (CONACYT) in Mexico City. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in International Relations (MSc), and holds a PhD in Analysis and Governance of Sustainable Development from the International University of Venice, Italy. His research interests cover climate change, disaster risk management, environmental security and humanitarian aid. He collaborates with the California Global Energy Initiative , Water & Infrastructure Innovation Initiative at Stanford University, and is a visiting Professor at the School of Global Governance at the University of the Americas in Puebla. He is an associate researcher of the Climate Change Research Program (PINCC) of the UNAM, of several Mexican international programs and participates in academic networks on issues of international cooperation, security and sustainable development. He has collaborated with various programs of the United Nations (UNEP, UNODC, UNIDO, ECLAC), of the European Union (Europe Aid) in the Balkans, Central America and Mexico, and has been a visiting researcher at the Research Center in North America of the UNAM (CISAN-UNAM).

Dr. Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald is a Research Professor in the Division of Environmental Sciences at the Instituto Potosino de Investigación Cientifica y Tecnológica (IPICYT), San Luis Potosi, Mexico. She did her masters in Biology/Botany at the Botanical Institute of the University of Innsbruck, Austria and her PhD in Range Ecology at Utah State University, Utah, U.S. As postdoc at the Institute of Ecology, University of Buenos Aires she served as Scientific Officer of Focus 4 of the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (IGBP-GCTE) program. She is an expert in dryland ecosystem ecology with a focus on diversity and functioning of plant species, plant functional groupsand biocrusts and their role in ecohydrological and biogeochemical processes considering the influence of global and social changes, in particular, livestock grazing, land use change and land degradation. Her work focuses on the integrity of socio-ecological systems considering ecosystem services as fundamental characteristics and basis of the resilience of dryland socio-ecological systems and the sustainable development of rural livelihoods.

Dr. Ileana Espejel is a Teacher-Researcher at the School of Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC). She is leader of the academic group Manejo de Recursos Costeros y Terrestres, which in 2011 received the award of Ecology and Society and an honorable mention by Semarnat-Ecological Award in 2014. She is co-founder of three postgraduate programs, and has 35 years of professional experience in interdisciplinary research and teaching on arid and coastal environments. Her research projects mainly involve inter- and transdisciplinary research seeking to achieve the sustainable development of arid and coastal communities in Mexico.