Catalina is the Head of the Climate and Conflict unit at the Climate Centre. Her focus is in advancing practice, research and policy to support people affected by conflict with climate action strategies and she leads on Anticipatory Action in situations of conflict for the Anticipation Hub. During the last years she has coordinated the global strategic development of Anticipatory Action, has been the knowledge manager of the Science for Humanitarian Emergencies & Resilience (SHEAR) programme and has supported the development of the Impact based Forecast approach for early action. She currently leads the partnership with the ICRC to support their transition towards climate action.
Catalina’s background is in industrial engineering, with a MA in Humanitarian Action, specialized in conflict, disasters and peacebuilding from Uppsala University, she is currently doing her PhD on Early Warning and Early Action in situations of Conflict at the University of Twente/ITC. She has more than 18 years’ experience in humanitarian action, most of them working on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction.