Coordination & secretariat

This space leads the general planning, ensures the articulation between the different areas of work and ensures the fulfilment of the institutional objectives. It also coordinates decision-making processes, promotes the active participation of members and maintains fluid communication between the different levels of the organisational structure. The presence of members from different countries reinforces the collaborative, multiscale and interjurisdictional approach that characterises our network.

Coordinators

Francisco Andrés Carabelli

Forest Engineer from the National University of La Plata and PhD in Forestry Sciences from the Faculty of Forestry Sciences of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany, working at the Institute of Land Use Planning and Nature Conservation.

He is currently a professor of Forest Management and Biodiversity and Conservation in the Forestry Engineering program at the Esquel (Chubut Province) branch of the Faculty of Engineering of the National University of Patagonia. He worked as a researcher for the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) of Argentina until 2006.

He was a visiting professor in the PhD Program in Biodiversity at the Iberoamerican Biodiversity Center of the University of Alicante (Spain) between 2004 and 2007. As a postgraduate professor, he also taught in the Master's Program in Forest Health Management at the School of Engineering. He has directed more than twenty projects financed with national and international funds from 1990 to the present.

For 14 years he was a member of the Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico, where between 1999 and 2005 he headed the Environmental Management Area. Between 2017 and 2019 he was elected as National Coordinator of the Argentine Network of Forestry Science and Technology (REDFOR.ar), whose Board of Directors is composed of CONICET, the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA), the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI) and the six national universities that teach undergraduate and graduate forestry careers, of which he is currently a member.

He was elected Dean of the School of Engineering in 2017, a position he held until 2021. Since 2013, he has been a member of the Executive Council of the Center for Integrated Environmental Studies at the Esquel Campus, which is part of the School of Engineering.

E-mail: francisco.carabelli@gmail.com

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8114-5580

Sandra Rodríguez Piñeros

She has more than 20 years of international experience in forest management and social aspects of the forest, has worked for the Colombian and Mexican governments, for different non-governmental organizations and in the academic sector. She is currently a Professor at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua (UACH), Mexico and a member of the IUFRO Board of Directors.

Her academic background is in Forestry Engineering from the Universidad Distrital Francisco José De Caldas, Colombia, she has a Master's degree in Forestry Sciences with emphasis in forest economics and a PhD in Environmental Sciences with emphasis in forest management, both acquired at Oklahoma State University (OSU). Her doctoral dissertation, “The Role of Analysis and Deliberation in Changing Community Preferences for Sustainable Forest Management Strategies and Indicators” was awarded the OSU Environmental Research Institute Best Doctoral Dissertation Award in 2009 and the IUFRO Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in 2014. She has been awarded the ITTO Freezailah Fellowship twice (2001 and 2021), received the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Award in 2024 and the Outstanding Academic Woman Award 2025 from the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua.

She coordinated the IUFRO-IFSA Joint Working Group on Forestry Education (2016-2024), participated in the global assessment of Forestry Education 2022 IUFRO, FAO, ITTO as in charge of the assessment for Latin America and the Caribbean.

E-mail: spineros@uach.mx

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6698-6894

Secretarios

María Isabel Delgado

She is a researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and a professor at the Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences of the National University of La Plata (UNLP), Argentina.

Her undergraduate training is in Forestry Engineering, and in postgraduate studies she is a Specialist in University Teaching (UNLP), MSc. in Integrated Watershed Management (UNLP) and PhD in Engineering from the National University of Rosario.

Her field of expertise covers watershed management, including the analysis of surface and groundwater quality, as well as hydrological modeling and the use of geographic information systems applied mainly to mountain and plain watersheds of Central Eastern Argentina.

She has performed management tasks in the university academic area. She has published books and book chapters, articles in national and international indexed journals, and has made more than 100 contributions to scientific events. She has been conducting undergraduate and graduate human resources training since 2012, and since 2017 she has been directing research and extension projects. She also teaches graduate courses in Argentina and Brazil and has participated in collaborative experiences in the United States and India.

She is currently coordinator of the Permanent Education Commission of the Argentine Network of Forestry Science and Technology of Argentina (REDFOR.ar) and member of the IUFRO-FAO Task Force called Scaling-Up Science-based Forest Sector Innovation.

E-mail: isabeldelgado@agro.unlp.edu.ar

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5493-7462

Andrés Avella-Muñoz

Forest Engineer from the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Master in Environment and Development from the Institute of Environmental Studies of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and Doctor in Sciences - Biology from the same institution. He also has a specialization in Environmental Management and Education, also from the Universidad Distrital.

His professional career has focused on forest restoration and management, with a focus on conservation and sustainable use. She is a specialist in the study of the Andean vegetation of Colombia, covering topics such as floristic composition, ecosystem structure and architecture, and restoration processes.

He has published numerous articles in indexed journals, as well as books and book chapters on Andean forest ecology and practical experiences in forest restoration and management. His main lines of research include forest ecology, management and ecological restoration.

He currently serves as Coordinator of the Master in Management, Use and Conservation of Forests and as professor of the subject Management and Management of Forests, in the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources of the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas.

E-mail: aavellam@udistrital.edu.co

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1595-1154