Yolanda López-Maldonado

Biography

Dr.rer.nat. Yolanda López-Maldonado is an Indigenous Maya woman from Mexico and a science diplomat, working on the social dimensions of nature conservation. Her career spans cutting-edge research and diplomatic engagement, driving high-impact collaborations with academic institutions, international organizations, and policymakers to address global challenges. Her work focuses on integrating science-based evidence from both Indigenous and Western science to foster trust-building between nations and advance equitable foreign policies

With a career marked by high-impact collaborations across academic, diplomatic, and multilateral spheres, she has partnered with leading institutions such as UNESCO, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to address complex socio-ecological issues.

Dr. López-Maldonado brings advanced expertise in analyzing global change through innovative frameworks, methods, and participatory approaches. Recently appointed as Lead Author for the Indigenous Knowledge and Local Knowledge section of the UNEP Global Environment Outlook Report 7, she plays a pivotal role in shaping international environmental governance. Concurrently, as a Global Council Member of the Women in Water Diplomacy Network, she champions gender-inclusive strategies for transboundary water cooperation.

Her work reflect a commitment to interdisciplinary solutions: she is a Young Scholar at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) and a Junior Fellow at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). Dr. López-Maldonado holds a PhD in Human Geography from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany, where she specialized in human-environment systems and participatory policy design. At her core, Dr. López-Maldonado champions culturally responsive approaches that harmonize scientific rigor with Indigenous epistemologies, positioning herself as a transformative voice in 21st-century sustainability leadership.

Awards