M. Azahara Mesa-Jurado
Mexico

Affiliation
Department of Sustainability Sciences
El Colegio de la Frontera Sur
Unidad Villahermosa, Tabasco
Mexico

My name is Azahara Mesa-Jurado, I’m from South Spain, however since 2010 I have been living in Tabasco, Southern Mexico, where I have developed my scientific career. I have an inter- and transdisciplinary background in agriculture, economics, and decision-making processes. I am 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 further support transformative changes toward sustainability. My research focuses mostly on the interaction human-nature and how this is the root for the values and perceptions that guide our doings, feelings, and thoughts in environmental decision-making process at several scales and contexts. Mainly, I collaborate with people in local and indigenous communities fostering the co-construction of knowledge and co-design of context solutions for desirable and sustainable futures. Recently, I have incorporated art-based methods as tools that help to connect deeper leverage points such as emotions, intentions and cosmovision for transformative changes.

I’m running for the ISEE Board Election as I would like to contribute to a more inclusive and collaborative ecological economics community. If elected, I will bring my perspective as researcher, woman and mother working in Latin-America that facilitates not only fertile spaces for academic exchange and networking, but also safe spaces for members to share other concerns related to academic livelihoods and caring. In my daily work, I realize how powerful having these arenas is for imagining common desirable futures, both personally and as a community. Moreover, from my experience in creating and leading other networks and my transdisciplinary background, I have enhanced my ability as bridge-builder between people and disciplines, a key role for a community like ISEE. I am eager to contribute to the association’s work by being part of the board.