MARÍA MERINO GONZÁLEZ-PARDO
Biography
María is M.Sc. in Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) by the University of Cantabria with background in Environmental Sciences by the University of Cordoba.
Since 2009 she works at IHCantabria as a coastal management and planning expert. She combines technical knowledge on coastal management and disaster risk management (DRM) with sound knowledge of the project cycle of international projects. In this regard, she is specialized in the management and implementation of projects funded by development agencies and multilateral organizations, such as the IDB, WB, or UN agencies. Previously, she worked in the field of environmental impact assessment for land use planning.
At IHCantabria, she has participated in more than 25 consultancy and capacity building projects, for international and national governmental entities worldwide, gaining broad experience in communicating with a wide range of stakeholders in different cultural contexts. She has developed ICZM Plans, vulnerability and risk assessments, community-based DRM Plans, tsunami evacuation mapping and environmental zoning of coastal areas in several countries in North Africa, Middle East, Latin America and Caribbean islands. In these projects, María also designs and implements participatory processes enhancing the involvement of coastal stakeholders in the undertaking of decision-making. Finally, she has been involved in a capacity building projects on coastal management, multi-hazard early warning systems and climate change adaptation.
RESEARCH LINES
Integrated Coastal Zone Management.
Disaster Risk Management.
Land use and coastal planning.
Stakeholder engagement.
Coastal resilience at community level.
PUBLICATIONS
Peer review papers and book chapters
Merino, M., Aguirre Ayerbe, Pérez, L., I., Hamza M., Nishara, F., Jayathilake P., Rajapakse, L., Siriwardana C., Rathnayaka, B., Nissanka S., Malalgoda C., Borg, R.P., Borg Axisa, G.: Guidance Note on Implementing Local Adaptation Strategies in the Coastal Built Environment. Climate Change Adaptation in the Coastal Built Environment. Springer. In press.
Aguirre-Ayerbe I., Merino M., Lei Aye S., Dissanayake R., Shadiya F., Lopez C.M.: An evaluation of availability and adequacy of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems in Asian countries: A baseline study. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 49, 101749, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101749
Aguirre-Ayerbe, I., Martínez Sánchez, J., Aniel-Quiroga, Í., González-Riancho, P., Merino, M., Al-Yahyai, S., González, M., and Medina, R.: From tsunami risk assessment to disaster risk reduction – the case of Oman, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 2241-2260, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-18-2241-2018, 2018.
Hummel, H. et al. A comparison on the degree of implementation of marine biodiversity indicators by European countries in relation to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 2014.
Conference proceedings
Aguirre-Ayerbe, I., Merino , Lei Aye, S., Shadiya, F., Dissanayake, R., M. Lopez, C. An evaluation of availability and adequacy of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems in Asian countries: a baseline study. 9th International Conference on Building Resilience and 4th ITB Centennial International Conference on Disaster Management, 2020.
Borg R.P., Aguirre-Ayerbe I., Vallar E., Merino M., Ranguelov B., Borg Axisa G., Era M., Jhariel Osman A. The Development of partnerships strategies for MHEWS: The case of Batangas, The Philippines. 9th International Conference on Building Resilience and 4th ITB Centennial International Conference on Disaster Management, 2020.
Era M., Vallar E., Jhariel Osman A., Borg R.P., Borg Axisa G., Aguirre-Ayerbe I., Merino M., Ranguelov B. A baseline assessment of the multi-hazard early warning systems in the province of Batangas, Philippines. 9th International Conference on Building Resilience and 4th ITB Centennial International Conference on Disaster Management, 2020.
Merino, M., Garnier, R., Aguirre Ayerbe, I., Medina, R., González, M.: Identification of key issues for Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Egypt. 1st Euro-Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration (Sousse, Tunisia), 2018.
González M., Cánovas V., Gutiérrez O. Q., Medina R., Merino M., García-Aguilar O., Garnier R., Gomes P., Ribas L., Jaramillo C.: El SMC: una herramienta de apoyo a la planificación GIZC (The Coastal Modelling System: a tool for ICZM). 2nd Ibero-American Congress on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (Florianopolis, Brazil),
García-Aguilar O., Merino M., González M. y Medina R.: Metodología para el Desarrollo de Planes GIZC: aplicación a Egipto y Qatar y lecciones aprendidas para su aplicación en España (A methodology to elaborate ICZM Plans: application to Egyptian and Qatari coast; and lessons learnt for its application in Spain). Jornadas Españolas de Costas y Puertos (Avilés, Spain), 2015.
Garcia-Aguilar, O., Gonzalez-Riancho, P., Merino, M., Sanó M., Medina R. 2013.: A nested governance system for ICZM in Egypt. MEDCOAST conference, 2013.