Maria de Lourdes Melo Zurita
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Department of Geography
King's College London,
The Strand,
London
WC2 2RLS
Email: maria.melo_zurita@kcl.ac.uk
King's College London,
The Strand,
London
WC2 2RLS
Email: maria.melo_zurita@kcl.ac.uk
Biography
Maria was born in Mexico City and grew up in the nearby city of Puebla. In 2004 she completed a BA in Cultural Anthropology at the Universidad de las Americas, graduating with Honorific Mention. This was followed by MA in Urban Studies and the Environment at the El Colegio de Mexico (2005-2007), with her dissertation receiving an award from the Gustavo Cabrera Contest, for best postgraduate dissertation relating Mexico’s urban and environmental issues.
Her current PhD programme at King’s is being funded by an International Postgraduate Scholarship from the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT).
Throughout her studies Maria has been actively involved with a number of community development projects across Mexico, predominantly relating to the alternative extraction and marketing of local resources. From 1999 to 2002 she worked with the El Tiempo en Piedra, a project working with artisans and peasants to produce sculptured stone artworks.
During this same period she worked at Museo Amparo (Amparo Museum), sourcing artisan works from local communities to be displayed at exhibitions. Between 2002 and 2004 she worked at the El Centro de Desarrollo Regional on a project which assisted in the promoting the commercialisation of nopal (tender cactus) and dairy products by local communities.
Currently she is a member of the Consultative Technical Committee that implements the Payment of Environmental Services Programme for the forests in Mexico. While at King’s College she is a member of the Environment, Politics & Development group.
Her current PhD programme at King’s is being funded by an International Postgraduate Scholarship from the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT).
Throughout her studies Maria has been actively involved with a number of community development projects across Mexico, predominantly relating to the alternative extraction and marketing of local resources. From 1999 to 2002 she worked with the El Tiempo en Piedra, a project working with artisans and peasants to produce sculptured stone artworks.
During this same period she worked at Museo Amparo (Amparo Museum), sourcing artisan works from local communities to be displayed at exhibitions. Between 2002 and 2004 she worked at the El Centro de Desarrollo Regional on a project which assisted in the promoting the commercialisation of nopal (tender cactus) and dairy products by local communities.
Currently she is a member of the Consultative Technical Committee that implements the Payment of Environmental Services Programme for the forests in Mexico. While at King’s College she is a member of the Environment, Politics & Development group.
Research
Maria’s PhD research project is investigating the social, economic and political dynamics that surround the utilisation of cenotes (water sinkholes) in the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. Cenotes, more than just water holes on a terrestrial landscape, also have numerous underground links, producing some of the largest underwater cave systems in the world.
These cenotes have long played a role in the social geography of Quintana Roo, being an important function in the lives and mythology of the Ancient Maya civilisation, to more contemporary utilisation as aquifers for urban centres and consumption through tourist recreational activities.
The interest of the research project is to tell the stories of cenotes. How they have transformed from previous social practices toward more contemporary commercial uses. By mapping the different uses and genealogies of the cenotes, this research project seeks to provide a greater understanding of the social geography surrounding cenotes in Quintana Roo.
These cenotes have long played a role in the social geography of Quintana Roo, being an important function in the lives and mythology of the Ancient Maya civilisation, to more contemporary utilisation as aquifers for urban centres and consumption through tourist recreational activities.
The interest of the research project is to tell the stories of cenotes. How they have transformed from previous social practices toward more contemporary commercial uses. By mapping the different uses and genealogies of the cenotes, this research project seeks to provide a greater understanding of the social geography surrounding cenotes in Quintana Roo.
