Ana Lucía Pelaez Echeverría

Ana Lucía Pelaez Echeverría

Queens’ College alp77@cam.ac.uk

Biography

I’m a Gates Cambridge Scholar and sustainability professional with a background in socio-environmental research and private sector strategy. My work focuses on the intersection of community engagement, energy transitions, and responsible investment, particularly in Guatemala and Latin America. 

I’m committed to bridging critical research and practical implementation to support just and sustainable development in complex social and political environments, especially where resource extraction meets grassroots resistance.

Before starting my doctoral research, I worked in corporate sustainability and strategy, supporting private sector initiatives on environmental compliance and stakeholder engagement. This experience informs my current work on investment, legitimacy, and accountability in contested development contexts.

More about my work and a downloadable CV are available at https://analuciape.com/

Research

My research examines the politics of socio-environmental conflict, resistance, and governance in Latin America, with a focus on how bottom-up movements shape, and are shaped by, the state.

In my doctoral project, I examine how resistance movements emerge and evolve in post-conflict Guatemala, where peace agreements are formally upheld but structural violence persists. Focusing on hydroelectric conflicts in Huehuetenango and Alta Verapaz, as well as the 2023 national strike, my work explores how local actors uphold, contest, or undermine liberal peacebuilding from the periphery.

Teaching and supervisions

  • POL4: Comparative politics (Brazil and Bolivia)
  • POL12: Politics of Conflict and Peace
  • POL 20: Politics of Latin America
  • Year Abroad Project

Publications

Supervisor

Dr. Pedro Mendes Loureiro