Dr Keila Guillen Oñate

Keila is an Environmental Economist with over 7 years of experience in this field. She specialises in applying economic valuation techniques to assess changes in social welfare from coastal and marine ecosystems management and policy changes. She finished her PhD in Economics where she conducted empirical studies that contribute to the literature on the economic valuation of mangrove ecosystem services in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the role of ecosystem restoration for local communities' well-being.

She is currently involved in the AgZero+ interdisciplinary project, which aims to evaluate farming practices in the UK towards achieving net zero+ and the impact of these practices on coastal ecosystem services. Additionally, she is a part of the C-Blues project, reviewing current investment and trading opportunities in Blue Carbon markets, and assessing mechanisms for stacking and/or bundling credits, including co-benefits beyond Blue Carbon. She has worked in Colombia and the UK.

She has worked in Colombia and the UK.

Key projects

• AgZero+ Towards sustainable, climate-neutral farming systems
• C-Blues: Carbon sequestration in BLUeEcoSystems

Selected publications

• Gómez-Cardona, Camilo J, Contreras, Andrea, Guillen-Oñate, Keila, Maldonado, Carolina, & Bolaños, Jiner A. (2019). Ecotourism potential in the Boca de Guacamaya Natural Regional Park, Sucre, Colombia: a look from an ecosystem services perspective. El hornero, 34(1), 17-29. http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0073-34072019000100003
• Rincón-Ruiz, A. Arias-Arévalo, P. Núñez, J.M. Cotler, H. Aguado, M. Meli, P. Tauro, A. Ávila-Akerberg, V. Avila-Foucat, S. Cardenas, J.P. Castillo, L. Castro, L. Cerón L. Contreras, A. Deschamps-Lomeli, J. Galeana-Pizaña, J.M. Guillén-Oñate, K. et al. (2019). Applying integrated valuation of ecosystem services in Latin America_ Insights from 21 case studies, Ecosystem Services. 36 p. 100901. doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100901
• Vivas-Aguas, J. L., M. Vargas-Morales, K. Guillen-Oñate, M. Villarraga y D. Sánchez. (2014). Coastal population vulnerability to organic and microbiological contamination in Buenaventura's Port, Colombian Pacific Coast. INVEMAR General Publication N° 76, Santa Marta. 24 p. Available at: http://siam.invemar.org.co/documentos-detalle/158388.

Keila engaging with stakeholders at the Tamar Catchment Partnership meeting in June 2023