Isabel Rivera-Collazo

Isabel Rivera-Collazo directed the Program of Archaeology and Ethnohistory of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, a position which she left to continue graduate studies. Once she completed her Ph.D., she became Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. Since 2016 she is Assistant Professor on Biological, Ecological and Human Adaptations to Climate Change at the Department of Anthropology and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, of University of California San Diego. Focusing on coastal and underwater contexts in tropical zones, her work specializes on the understanding of human vulnerability to climate and environmental change, and identifying lessons from the past that are relevant to communities in the present. Isabel has received several prizes for her work, including the Frances Lucerna Award for Leadership and Social Justice (2018). She is author of diverse peer-reviewed publications in English and Spanish, and is member of the Scientific Diving Regulatory Board of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Her most recent research project DUNAS, combines sand dune restoration, cultural heritage and climate change to stimulate community resilience.