¡Felicitaciones Clase de 2020!
PhD Graduates (all Spring 2020)
Michael Ayala is deeply committed to building sustainable food systems and has been involved with different aspects of it, especially with researching and spreading knowledge about sustainable agriculture and its practice. He earned his degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Universidad Central del Ecuador with a focus on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development. He received his Masters’ of Environment on Education for Sustainability from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, and his Higher Education Diploma in Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Social Development Projects from Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Quito, Ecuador. Michael earned his PhD degree in Latin American Studies from The University of New Mexico in Spring 2020. His topic of research was the diverse perceptions of the impact of Agroecology in rural communities of Ecuador. He applied participatory and mixed methods to unveil the convergences and divergences that different stakeholders have about the relevance of Agroecology and the dynamics of the knowledge associated with its practice.
He has worked as a mentor, instructor and researcher in Organic Agriculture and Agroecology in different environments; in the highlands, coastline, Amazon Region, and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. Using Environmental Education as a supporting tool, he has helped communities find their own path to sustainable development. He started teaching sustainable agriculture at the university level in 1996 and now he is a professor of Environmental Education for Sustainable Development and Agroecology at the Central University in Quito, Ecuador.
The University of New Mexico has inspired me and helped achieve my goals both as a researcher and as a human being.
Monserrat Fernández-Vela has dedicated her academic career to studying Educommunication, the intersection between Education and Communication, as an alternative to programs of social justice and social change in Latin America. From this paradigm, her areas of interest are the interrelations of power/knowledge, the construction of discourses of otherness and interculturality, the impact of new technologies on human networks, and the design and evaluation of curriculum in higher education.
As a Fulltime Tenure Professor at Central University of Ecuador, she has connected her classroom with the community in areas such as sexual and reproductive rights, human rights education, communication for social change, community development and effective communication. As a professional, she had worked with governmental organizations, national and international universities, NGO´s and grass root groups as a trainer, facilitator, consultant, and researcher.
She received a B.A. in Social Communication from the Central University of Ecuador, and a MA. in Education from San Francisco de Quito University in Ecuador. Presently, Monserrat earned her Ph. D. degree in Latin American Studies from The University of New Mexico in Spring 2020, with a concentration in Communication and Sociology. Her doctoral research focussed on the discourse of Human Rights and Human Rights Education, read from a Latin American Educommunicational perspective. Her work has a multidisciplinary approach that combines Communication, Education, and Sociology.
“I am grateful at UNM because it gave us a home away from home, and helped me to pursue my dreams. I will always be a LOBO at heart”
Dinka Natali Caceres Arteaga, Built Environment and Geography & Environmental Studies
Dr. Natali Cáceres Arteaga is an independent researcher, consultant, and environmentalist graduating with a PhD in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico in Spring 2020. She holds bachelor's degrees in Environmental Engineering from SEK International University and in Management for Local Sustainable Development from Salesian Polytechnic University. She earned a Higher Diploma in Ecological Economics and a master’s degree in Environmental Law, which the Ecuadorian Council for Higher Education awarded her an Honorable Mention for Best Thesis.
Natali is a Professor at Central University of Ecuador in the Department of Agricultural Sciences. Her classes have a strong interdisciplinary focus, utilizing the disciplines of feminist political ecology, environmental studies, and ethnography. Prior to joining Central University, she was a technical coordinator for the Secretary of the Environment in the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador, and was a member of the technical team that designed Quito’s Action Plan on Climate Change.
Her current research explores how intersectionality, understood as the convergence of social identities such as gender and ethnicity, is relevant to the study of the adaptive capacity to climate change. The study proposes an Adaptive Capacity Index adjusted to the context of populations dedicated to agriculture in highland Ecuador.
Her future plans involve designing a specialized center for climate change at Central University of Ecuador that will provide academic space for professors, researchers, students, and governmental and international organizations.
Natali recognizes that her dissertation was built step by step by a group of valuable people who were by her side, especially her mentor and great friend, Dr. Maria Lane. She also thanks the great team at the UNM’s Latin American and Iberian Institute for all the support she received.
“The University of New Mexico is and always will be a space for learning and joy, where I met amazing people who will be on my heart forever.”-- Natali
MALAS Graduates:
During her time at the LAII, Carolina collaborated as a graduate assistant with the blog “Vamos a Leer,” which supports K-12 teaching on topics related to Latin America and served as the communications coordinator for the Student Organization for Latin American Studies (SOLAS). She was also a teaching assistant for the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, where she taught introductory and intermediate language courses. Carolina’s research work focused on oral history, gender, folktale, and post-colonial feminism. She conducted field research in Quito, Ecuador in the summer of 2019 for her thesis project. Carolina is starting a master’s degree in creative writing at Colorado State University in the fall.Carolina would like to thank her committee members Dr. Ilia Rodriguez, Dr. Kathryn McKnight, and Dr. Jaelyn DeMaria for all their support, knowledge, and advice. She congratulates her peers for completing their degrees under extraordinary circumstances; she is very proud of them all. Carolina would also like to thank the LAII staff for their support during her time at UNM, as well as her family, friends, professors, and the community who encouraged her to pursue her goals.
Devon was the first student admitted to (and first to complete) the dual-degree program of Master of Public Health and Master of Arts in Latin American Studies with a concentration in Communications and Public Health Policy. During her time at UNM, she completed her practicum in Guatemala conducting research on birthing practices, was awarded funding to present her work in Philadelphia, granted a FLAS Fellowship to study the K’ichee’ Maya language in Guatemala, and is finalizing her final professional paper on global sex worker policies and their public health implications. As a graduate student, she was active on campus holding several officer positions within SOLAS and in the El Puente de Encuentro Fellowship through El Centro de la Raza exploring mental health in New Mexico. She plans to seek a policy fellowship in D.C. and pursue future work in philanthropy or with her dream NGO, Amnesty International. She would like to give a shout out to the LAII and COPH for their support throughout her program and several staff and faculty including Dr. Lisa Cacari Stone, Dr. Fares Qaedan, Dr. Nina Wallerstein, Dr. Shinsuke Eguchi and Texanna Martin. She also thanks her fellow cohort, students and friends for their encouragement and laughter! And finally and most importantly, she gives a shout out to her family who believed in her even when she doubted herself in her Master’s program, her parents Bobby and Jennifer Lara, her sister Celeste Lara and her grandparents Rose, JoAnn and Tony!
BALAS Graduates:
Isaiah is graduating with honors in Latin American Studies, minoring in Linguistics and Economics. He is a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow whose research focuses on transnational music communities in and beyond the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Romo is a recipient of the Summer Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship for which he spent a summer studying the K’ichee’ language in Guatemala’s central highlands. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, he is a member of the son jarocho collective Las Brujas Jaraneras. Isaiah would like to thank all the homies and mentors who have helped him along in his academic journey. They include Chris, Sarah, Nati, Goose, Moi, Froi, Alex, Oriana, Howard, Melina, Rafa, Yoli, aJosue, Drs. Meléndez, Careaga-Coleman, Vásquez, taTe'k Mondloch, Alonso-Minutti, Truett, Dawn, Trinidad-Galvan, Garcia, Kiyoko, Krista, Farah, Rosa, Alisha, Richard, and todas las brujas jaraneras, CAPS, CCS, CRS, LAII, El Centro, Facilities Management, UNM Libraries, his family, Esperanza, Reuben, Ligia, Mom, Papa, sus 'buelitos, sus sisters, sus grandparents y sus perros. During his time at UNM he enjoyed learning, making music, and eating snacks at various campus events. His post-graduation plans include cutting his hair and growing a garden. 