Brigitte Baptiste

Brigitte Baptiste, Ph.D. (born October 23, 1963) is a Colombian cultural landscape ecologist and an expert on environmental issues and biodiversity in Colombia. She is a member of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of the Intergovernmental Science and Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and has been part of the national representation to the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research.[1] She served as director of the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute from 2011 until 2019.[2] In September 2019, Baptiste became the director of Universidad Ean.[3]

Brigitte Baptiste
Born(1963-10-23)October 23, 1963
Bogotá
NationalityColombian
Alma mater
Scientific career
FieldsEcology
InstitutionsEAN University

Education

Baptiste studied biology at the Pontifical Xavierian University, where she graduated with a thesis on the ecology of fishing in Araracuara, Amazon.[4][5] As a Fulbright Scholar from 1992 to 1994, she completed a master's degree in tropical conservation and development studies at the University of Florida. Her thesis focused on forest management by rural communities in Boyacá Andes, Colombia. She continued her graduate studies as part of the Russell Train Program of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)[4] at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where she obtained a PhD in Environmental Sciences (Ecological Economics and Natural Resource Management) in 2000. Her dissertation is entitled, "The concept of main ecological structure (EEP in spanish) and its potential as environmental management tool for biodiversity". [6]

Professional life

Brigitte Baptiste has had a long career in both nonprofit and academic spheres. As a student in 1982, she co-founded the environmental nonprofit Corporación Grupo Ecológico GEA, which she would later serve as director from 1984 to 1991. From 1991 to 1996, she served as a professor in the Institute of Environmental Studies and Development (IDEADE) at Pontifical University, during which she edited Ambiente y Desarrollo (IDEADE-PUJ). After 1996, she coordinated the Program for Biodiversity Use and Valuation at the Humboldt Institute and consulted for numerous nonprofits, including WWF Colombia. She returned to Pontifical University from 2002 to 2009 to teach and research as an assistant professor.[6] She served as the director of the Humboldt Institute from 2011 to 2019.[2]

As director, Baptiste represented Colombia's scientific authority to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Subsidiary Body of Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA). She serves on the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) as a member of its Global Panel of 25 experts (MEP) on behalf of Latin America and the Caribbean (2015-2017). There, she co-chairs working groups on Indigenous and Local Knowledge, as well as on Policy Tools and Methodologies. She is also a member of the IAI's Science Policy Advisory Committee (Inter-American Environmental Initiative for Global Change) and the scientific committee of the global program PECS (Ecosystem Change and Society).[4] She was a prominent voice advocating for a peace deal in the Colombian Civil War.[7] Baptiste became director of Universidad Ean in September 2019.[3]

In addition to her academic pursuits, Brigitte Baptiste was featured in an episode of "Taboo" by National Geographic Latin America.[8] She is also a columnist in the economic newspaper La República.[9]

Personal life

Baptiste is married to Adriana Vásquez. Together they have two daughters, Candelaria and Juana Pasión.[10][5]

Further reading

"Maxim Februari & Brigitte Baptiste talk gender". The Bogotá Post. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

"Biodiversity should reconcile the country": Brigitte Baptiste. Opening presentation at the UNIMAGDALENA Science, Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week. 10 October 2018. [11]

"Brigitte Baptiste, Colombia's leading biodiversity expert, is a transgender activist" Univision Noticias/Latin America. 30 March 2018.[12]

"In Colombia, the champion of biodiversity is transgender".[13] Reporterre. 2 January 2019.

References
  1. "BBaptiste". ipbes.net. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  2. Hogan, Mary Margaret. "Brigitte Baptiste discusses the queering of ecology". www.umass.edu. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  3. "Brigitte Baptiste, nueva rectora de la Universidad Ean | Noticias". Universidad EAN (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  4. "Brigitte Baptiste". La Silla Vacía (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  5. Emblin, Richard (24 March 2014). "Baptiste: The heels of Humboldt". The City Paper Bogotá. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  6. "BRIGITTE LUIS GUILLERMO BAPTISTE" (PDF). Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  7. Smith, Jennie Erin (8 December 2016). "The Queer Ecology of the Colombian Civil War". Nautilus. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  8. "Tabú Latinoamérica 2 Cambio de Género (Parte 1)". 21 July 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  9. "Brigitte Baptiste, Análisis sobre economía, finanzas, empresas y negocios de Colombia y el mundo | LaRepublica.co". Archived from the original on 2016-08-06.
  10. Dueñas, Jairo (7 March 2017). ""Rompí el molde de ser hombre", Brigitte Baptiste" (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  11. CIDS, Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de Software. ""La biodiversidad debería reconciliar al país": Brigitte Baptiste". www.unimagdalena.edu.co (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  12. Univision. "Brigitte Baptiste, la mayor experta en biodiversidad de Colombia, es una activista transgénero". Univision (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  13. "En Colombie, la championne de la biodiversité est transgenre". Reporterre, le quotidien de l'écologie (in French). Retrieved 2019-03-16.



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