Marleni Ramirez

Title: Regional Director

Duty post: Americas Regional Office, Cali, Colombia

Dr. Marleni Ramirez, a Peruvian national, became the Regional Director for The Americas Office of Bioversity International in late 2005.

Since 1986, her professional experience has included work in various sectors of international development including capacity development and training, small enterprise development and implementation of agriculturally focused projects. She has worked with universities, the private sector, international organizations and the government.

Dr. Ramirez was a Science and Diplomacy Fellow at the U.S. State Department under the patronage of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

During the last decade, she has developed, administered and/or implemented projects in agriculture and conservation of biological diversity. Dr. Ramirez has also studied the use and management of native varieties of minor tubers by peasants in the Peruvian Andes, and has implemented an initiative for complementary conservation in northern Ecuador, with an innovative component of agro tourism in support of the conservation and use of native crops.

A major component of her work includes guidance and support to the development and implementation of the elements of global systems for conservation and use of genetic resources, including the International Treaty  [1] and FAO  [2]’s update of the Global Plan of Action and State of the World  [3].

Credentials:

BSc, Biology, San Marcos National University, Lima, Peru
MSc, Biology, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
PhD, Physical Anthropology, City University of New York, New York, USA

Languages:

Fluent in English and Spanish and can communicate in Portuguese.

Recent publications:

Ramirez, M., Ortiz, R., Taba, S., Sebastian, L., Williams, D., Ebert, A., and Vezina, A. 2011. Demonstrating interdependence on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. In: Crop Genetic Resources as a Global Commons: Challenges in International Law and Governance. M. Halewood, I. Lopez N. and S.Louafi. Eds. Earthscan. Read more  [4]

Williams D., and Ramírez M. 2008. Ecuadorian women play a central role in conserving native crops. Geneflow. Pp: 40-41. Read more
  [5]
Ramirez M. 2008. Redes de Recursos Fitogenéticos en las Américas. Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. No.53: 85-92. Read more  [6]

Debouck D., Ebert A., Peralta E., Barandiarán M., and Ramírez M. 2008. La importancia de la utilización de la diversidad genética vegetal en los programas de investigación agrícola en América Latina. Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. No.53: 46-53. Read more  [7]