Valeria Pizarro, PhD

Dr. Valeria Pizarro (she/her) is a biologist who studies the biology and ecology of corals and coral reefs. She started studying coral reefs in her natal Colombia at the island in San Andrés while doing her masters, where she focused on brain coral population dynamics. After that Dr. Pizarro worked on the design and implementation of the Seaflower Marine Protected Area System (Western Caribbean) and started her doctorate studies at Newcastle University (UK) on Caribbean coral connectivity. Her research interests include coral reproduction, population dynamics, connectivity and coral restoration. In 2019, Dr Pizarro worked in The Bahamas Coral Innovation Hub at Eleuthera, a project aiming to scale and improve the restoration of Bahamian coral reefs.

Dr. Pizarro was a professor at the Jorge Tadeo University (Colombia) for seven years, teaching undergraduates and graduate students. She also has extensive experience on other coastal marine ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrasses. Her other interests are marine policy, community engagement and biodiversity offsets. During the last 6 years, Dr. Pizarro has been an advocate of a Colombia reef named Varadero, which could be dredged for a new shipping channel at Cartagena. Her campaign to save this reef has included its nomination as a Hope Spot (Mission Blue).