Maritza Cárdenas Calle is a PhD in Marine Ecology from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. She is a professor at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and manager of the Center for Development and Innovation in basic sciences, bio-knowledge and technologies applied to production at the University of Guayaquil, where she focuses her research on the development and application of tools for the assessment of water quality, pollution status and biodiversity of macrobenthic communities in estuarine and marine areas.
Her main research is related to the evaluated the effect of heavy metals and hydrocarbons on benthic resources and answer questions related of ecological, agricultural, fishery, and hydrological aspects, and for the generation of public policy to control of the pollution in aquatic ecosystems. She is an environmental consultant, and she has designed, won, and implemented international and national funds for the development of projects focused on environmental-biodiversity monitoring on the coast of Ecuador.
Her studies have promoted conservation, the sustainable management of natural resources, and the creation of marine protected areas. Since 2012 to the present, she has participated in collaborative networks at a global, Mesoamerican and Latin American networks such as: MBON, SARCE, and Pacifico Sostenible focused on evaluating anthropic activity, the effect of climate change on macroinvertebrate communities in rocky coasts and promote the participation of stakeholders of the academia, the State, research institute, NGOs and companies, actions for the conservation of marine resources. She has more than 20 scientific publications and she is a founding member of the Bioelit Foundation and the Interinstitutional Network for the Study of Aquatic Ecosystems of Ecuador (RIEAE).
This page was updated in November 2024.
