Elisa Arond is a Research Fellow at SEI Latin America in Bogotá, Colombia.
She is interested in approaches to extractive industry governance and science, technology and innovation policy that foster inclusive and sustainable development. She is particularly interested in understanding and fostering socially inclusive processes that thoughtfully engage local knowledge and expertise in decision-making, including around just transitions beyond fossil fuels.
Prior to SEI, Elisa worked as an adjunct professor at the Interdisciplinary Center for Development Studies (CIDER) at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá. Her professional experience also includes research and consultancy for academic think tanks and prominent international development NGOs and foundations, as well as collaborative work with regional and national research organizations, government agencies, and local grassroots groups, especially in Colombia, the USA, and UK.
Elisa’s research has examined the relations between natural resource extraction (mining, oil and gas) and financing of science, technology and innovation at the subnational level in Colombia, seen as a vital foundation for transitions to a more diverse economy and longer-term development beyond natural resource dependency. Other work has also focused on transparency and accountability mechanisms such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
She has a PhD and MA in Geography from Clark University (USA), an MSc in Science and Technology for Sustainability from SPRU-Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex (UK), and a BSc in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (USA).