M. Azahara Mesa-Jurado

My name is Azahara Mesa-Jurado. I’m from South Spain; however, since 2010, I have lived in Tabasco, Southern Mexico, where I have developed my scientific career. I have an inter- and transdisciplinary background in agriculture, economics, and decision-making. I am a researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR), a public research center in Villahermosa, Mexico. In 2014, I co-founded the Transdisciplinary Laboratory for Sustainability, conceived as a space for breaking boundaries between disciplines and social actors to support transformative changes toward sustainability.

My research focuses mainly on the interaction of human-nature and how this is the root of the values and perceptions that guide our doings, feelings, and thoughts in the environmental decision-making process at several scales and contexts. Mainly, I collaborate with people in local communities, fostering the co-construction of knowledge and co-designing context solutions for desirable and sustainable futures. Recently, I have incorporated art-based methods as tools that help to connect more profound leverage points such as emotions, intentions and cosmovision for transformative changes.

I’m running again for the ISEE Board Election as I would like to continue contributing to a more inclusive and collaborative ecological economics community. During the last two years, I have led the Prize and Awards Committee, supporting the creation of the Bina Agarwal Prize for Young Scholars in Ecological Economics, and have collaborated with the Community Building Committee.

If elected, I will bring my perspective as a researcher, woman and mother working in Latin America that facilitates fertile spaces for academic exchange and networking and safe spaces for members to share other concerns related to academic livelihoods and caring.  Moreover, from my experience in creating and leading other networks and my transdisciplinary background, I have enhanced my ability as a bridge-builder between people and disciplines, a vital role for a community like ISEE. I am eager to contribute to the association’s work by being part of the board.