Upcoming work for the IPBES

Another update on some other aspects of my recent work. This past winter, I was fortunate enough to be selected as a fellow for the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES’s) upcoming Nexus Assessment. Like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which conducts regular reports on the science of climate change, the IPBES does similar work for issues related to biodiversity, conservation, sustainable development and ecosystem services.

The Nexus Assessment will be interesting in that it will specifically look at the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health. More specifically, it will be examining the relationship between sustainable development goals related to food, water and health alongside efforts to protect biodiversity on land and in the oceans while also combating climate change.

For this work as a fellow, I will be carrying out research, analysis and writing as part of my assigned chapter, which is Chapter 4: Policy and sociopolitical options across the nexus that could facilitate and accelerate the transition to a range of sustainable futures. I will also be attending several author meetings over the course of the next three years, the first of which will take place this May in Bonn, Germany.

I am really excited about this work. It represents not only a new and exciting professional step in my career, but the work itself is also specifically aimed at developing strong interdisciplinary science to influence policy debates and creation at the national and international level. This space—between scientific research and policy—is where I am most interested in working in the coming years. Also, getting to travel is a major plus.

An update of sorts

It has been a while since I've used this blog....some 5 years or something, not since my last time in South Africa. A few big developments on my end: I've finished my PhD and since started working as a postdoc at the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont. My work there will look at ecosystem services, regenerative agriculture, and farmer viability for several programs at the state level.

I am also continuing my research on agroecology in Cuba, aiming to write another National Geographic grant soon, this time to do a bit of visual storytelling based in the community I conducted my doctoral research in, called La Picadora, on the northern coast of Sancti Spiritus province. It is a small-scale farming community, wedged between a beautiful range of karst mountains in the south and Caguanes National Park, part of the larger Buenavista Biosphere Reserve, to the north. A truly beautiful place.

Lastly, I recently finished writing my first novel, The Maw, which I am trying to shop around for a potential agent. What a crazy process. Makes writing the damn thing seem like the easy part. But hoping for the best. Drop a line if anyone is willing to lend a hand. 

I'll be sure to drop a summary of the book in the blog in the next few weeks if anyone is interested.

Anyway, I am endeavoring to post more regular updates about my work here in the future. Keep an eye out. And thanks for taking the time to read.

-mario