Welcome to my website!  

I am an Assistant Professor of Environmental Justice in the Law, Societies, & Justice Department at the University of Washington in Seattle. At UW, I am also a faculty affiliate of the Center for Environmental Politics, the Science, Technology, & Society Studies (STSS) Faculty Network, and the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE). I am also a Research Affiliate of the Human Contexts and Ethics of Data Program at UC Berkeley's College of Computing, Data Science, and Society. 

I am a researcher and educator focused on the intersection of critical environmental social sciences, science and technology studies, and socio-legal studies. My work explores the political ecologies of extraction and toxicity, as well as the politics surrounding environmental knowledge, technology, and law, particularly in Colombia and Latin America. I am broadly interested in how science, technology, and law influence, and are influenced by, people’s relationships with their environments and resources, especially in polluted and extractive landscapes. My methodological approach includes interpretive social science methods and qualitative analysis.

My current research includes projects on the global governance of mercury and the datafication of environmental and mining policies. My doctoral research examined the history and politics of mercury amalgamation in gold mining in Colombia, as well as its broader circulation in the Americas over the last three centuries. My work has appeared in Geoforum, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Ambix, International Negotiation, Triología: Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad, and Revista de Derecho Publico, as well as in several edited volumes. It has been funded by the Fulbright Program, UC Berkeley's Center for Latin American Studies, the Alejandro Angel Escobar Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. 

I teach courses on global environmental politics, environmental justice, environment and society, and the socio-political dimensions of science, technology, and data. I have taught introductory courses on social sciences to STEM majors and law students, as well as professional certificates in environmental law and policy. 

As part of my public scholarship, I have consulted for various research centers and environmental nonprofit institutions in Colombia and collaborated with various Indigenous and human rights organizations in Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. I serve on the Colombia-based Center for Marine Justice board and previously worked as the Research Director of Environmental Justice at the Center for the Study of Law, Society, and Justice (Centro de Estudios de Derecho, Sociedad y Justicia, or Dejusticia).

In 2022, I completed a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management with an emphasis on Society and Environment at the University of California, Berkeley. I also hold degrees in Geography and Law from the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. 

Before joining UW, I was a Gerardo Marin Postdoctoral Fellow and an assistant professor in the University of San Francisco's Global Studies Department. 

 Photo: Rainforest in Taraira's goldfields, Northeastern Colombian Amazon (2013)