Paula Meli

Principal Investigator - Floreana Ecological Restoration Project

Dr. Paula Meli is tropical restoration ecologist who has worked in many countries of Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. At the starts of her career, she advanced research on forest restoration at Natura Mexicana in the Lacandona rainforest. She subsequently developed over 15-year research in projects always approaching environmental problems from an integral perspective, including the ecological, social, and political-economic dimensions. Her work focuses on tropical forest restoration and the ecology of secondary forests, but also on social perceptions, community participation in restoration processes, and their importance for evaluating ecosystem services and building sustainability.

Paula holds a B.S. in Biology from University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), a M.S. in Environmental Sciences from National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico), and a Ph.D. degree in Ecosystem Ecology, Conservation and Restoration from Alcalá University (Spain). She is also an Associate Researcher of the Anthropocene Studies Lab, at University of Concepción, Chile, and founder member of the International Foundation for Ecosystem Restoration – Argentina. She joined the Charles Darwin Foundation as Principal Investigator of the Floreana Ecological Restoration Project.