Environmental Scientist/Climate Adaptation Specialist

Telephone: +353 (0) 21 470 3134

Fax: +353 (0) 21 470 3132

Email: m.falaleeva@ucc.ie

Maria Falaleeva joined CMRC in 2009 as a post-doctoral researcher in CLAD (Costal Climate Adaptation and Development Tool) project. Her current research interests include multi-level governance for climate adaptation, resilience of socio-environmental systems to climate change (with special focus on Irish coastal zones), adaptive management, science-policy interaction, knowledge integration and stakeholder participation.

Maria graduated from Belarusian State University (BSU), Minsk in 1998 with a Diploma in Geography and Environmental Science and obtained MSc degree in Environmental Science in 1999. From 1999 to 2004 she had been combining PhD studies with research and teaching (physical geography, urban environment and landscape planning) at the Faculty of Geography, BSU. Her PhD research on spatial structure of urban landscapes and environmental assessment of urban ecosystems caused further interests in social dimension of environmental problems. After defending a PhD thesis in 2004, Maria joined the LUMES course on sustainability studies in Lund University, Sweden. In 2005 she has been awarded a scholarship of Saxonian ministry for research, for the internship in the Helmholz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Leipzig, where she investigated stakeholder involvement and effectiveness of the World Bank operations in the Belavezhskaya Pushcha national park, Belarus. From 2006 till 2009 Maria was working in the Institute for Environmental Studies IVM at the VU University of Amsterdam as a post-doctoral researcher in the EU ADAM (Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies: Supporting EU climate policy) project. Her research in ADAM on local aspects of climate adaptation addressed the issues of multi-level decision-making, stakeholder involvement and social learning based on EU case studies including Tisza floodplain in Hungary and the Broads in East Anglia.

Maria is involved in several education and NGO projects including EU UNIENV project on enhancing capacities for high environmental education in Belarus. She is a member of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE) and a national contact point for Belarus for the International Human Dimension Program (IHDP).