Luz Martinez-Melendez

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Degrees Received

Ph.D. in Ecological Economics from University of Vermont (UVM), U.S. 
            Supervisor: Robert Costanza, PhD and Curtis Ventriss, PhD

Graduate Certificate in Ecological Economics from UVM
Professional Certificate in Sustainable Business Practices from UVM

M.Sc. in Ecological Economics from UVM

B.Sc.  in International Relations from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)



Current Position
Post-doctoral fellow, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University,
Supervisor:  Elena Bennett
 

Research keywords: ecological economics, ecosystem services, environmental policy analysis, international trade-environment-development analysis, international environmental and trade agreements, sustainable production and consumption policies and practices (environmental management systems and environmental certifications and labels).

Research interests

The research during my M.Sc. was focused on participatory approaches in the management of watersheds, therefore after some field trips and interviews I was able to map the social interactions (also called social capital) in a specific watershed in Mexico. I was able to identify the weaknesses and strengths in the social dynamics that hindered the development of sustainable practices in the watershed. On the other hand, I was able to observe a successful example of payment for ecosystem services scheme and other kinds of social cooperative practices. After, some qualitative analysis I formulated some policy recommendations. As part of my quantitative analysis, I gathered statistical data regarding economic, environmental and social variables to estimate the Genuine Progress Indicator for this watershed. During those two years of research I was able to observe how trade of goods and services provided by ecosystems can alter socio-economics conditions in the societies, even at this watershed level of analysis.

For my doctoral research I decided to get a deeper understanding about the effects from trade on the environmental and social conditions. This time I chose a macro level of analysis, thus I focused on North America region, developing a comparative analysis between Canada, United States and Mexico. The general question to answer was what are the environmental and social impacts from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). My goal was to study this trade agreement beyond the economic aftermaths (such as GDPs, imports, and exports) because usually those were reported as positive. I aimed to analyze environmental and social variables linked to trade (such as waste generation, CO2 emissions, income inequalities, and labor force conditions, amongst others). As expected, economic analysis alone reported positive, but the environmental and social analyses reported negative.

As a postdoctoral fellow I aim to continue my research on trade and environment at international level. While I remain in the same region of study – North America – my objective is to look into more specific environmental components. The general question to be answered is how international trade affects sustainable agriculture and food security in the region? I would like to provide evidence that international trade practices increase the pollution of soil and air. Regarding food security, I believe that it is no longer an exclusive preoccupation for the underdeveloped or developing countries, but since food production depends enormously on climate conditions and sustainable practices it will soon become a preoccupation for developed countries as well. In this sense, I aim to assess food security projections for Canada, United States and Mexico. Food production represents a challenge regarding the competition for land use for food production or for environmental conservation, as well as water use for direct human consumption or for food production. My objective is to contribute to the ongoing scientific analysis and discussion about the dilemma of competing for ecosystem services to provide, now and in the future, food, fresh water and clean air to humans in an era of rapid climate change and growing population.


Awards, grants and scholarships

  • Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT): Research grant for Postdoctoral studies.
  • Center of Lifecycle Analysis and Eco-design (CADIS): Research grant for Postdoctoral studies.
  • CONACYT: Scholarship for Doctoral Studies.
  • North America Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC): Research grant to study environmental effects from trade liberalization
  • U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): Research grant for M.Sc. studies
  • Bachelor’s Thesis award: thesis included an interview with a former President of Mexico regarding foreign policy


Publications

Martinez-Melendez, L. Suppen, N. (in prep) Environmental labels and certifications in Mexico: background and future opportunities. Prepared for the Journal of Cleaner Production

Martinez-Melendez, L., Ventriss, C., Costanza. R., Farley, J., Erickson, J. (in prep) Has NAFTA improved wellbeing? Prepared for the Ecological Economics Journal

Martinez-Melendez, L. A. (2012) NAFTA beyond economics, its connection with environmental and social issues (Doctoral Dissertation, University of Vermont)

Melendez. L.-A. M. (2010) NAFTA, tourism and environment in Mexico. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 10(2), 107-131.

Beddoe, R., Costanza, R., Farley, J., Garza, E., Kent, J., Kubiszewski, I., Martinez, L., McCowen, T., Murphy, K., Myers, N., Ogden, Z., Stapleton, K., and John Woodward. (2009) Overcoming systemic roadblocks to sustainability: The evolutionary redesign of worldviews, institutions, and technologies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 106:8, pp. 2483-2489. (These authors contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order)

Martinez L. (2009) Social Capital. The Encyclopedia of Earth. http://www.eoearth.org/article/Social_capital

White Book: Integrated La Antigua Watershed Management (2009), Commissioned by the USAID (General Collaboration).

Martinez- Melendez, L. A. (2008) Applying Ecological Economic Approaches to Relate Social Capital to the Integrative Management of La Antigua Watershed in Veracruz, Mexico (M.Sc. Thesis, University of Vermont).

Martinez- Melendez, L.A. (2008) Environmental Labels in North America: a Guide for Consumers – Background paper prepared for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC), available at <www.cec.org>

Environmental Management Systems Manual (2005) <Manual de Sistemas de Manejo Ambiental> Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, SEMARNAT, Mexico. (General Coordination and Compilation).


 
Contact information:

Current e-mail address : luz.martinezmelendez @ mail.mcgill.ca  or lamarti @ gmail.com