Evelyn Arriagada is a Ph.D. student at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (UBC), supervised by Professor Leila Harris. Her Ph.D. thesis will be focused on women’s activism in water struggles in Chile. Following a Feminist Political Ecology and decolonial approach, she wants to understand potential shifts in gender identities, political dynamics, and relationships with water that women experience through the process of becoming activists. Her Ph.D. program is supported by a Vanier CGS Award; UBC’s Killam Doctoral Scholarship, Public Scholar Initiative and Four Year Fellowship; the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID, Chile); and the Diego Portales University (Chile).
Evelyn is an anthropologist and MA in social sciences, both from the Universidad of Chile and also MA in Political and Social Sciences, from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain). As a member of the Observatory of Inequalities at the Diego Portales University (Chile), she co-created and coordinates a School of Female Leaders aiming to empower rural women facing various environmental hazards. Evelyn participates in diverse initiatives involving academia, ONGs, and communities, such as the Latin American Grupo Ecología(s) política(s) desde el Sur/Abya-Yala (CLACSO), the Action/Research Group for Water (Chile), the Feminist Coordination at the Civil Society for Climate Action (SCAC-Chile), and the Asamblea de Mujeres Insulares por el Agua (Chiloé, Chile). At UBC, she is also a member of the EDGES Research Collaborative (Environment and Development: Gender, Equity, and Sustainability).