Maria Mercedes Kuri
Argentina
MSc Water Science, Policy and Management
Worcester College
Funding: Louis Dreyfus-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann
Maria Mercedes is currently Partnerships Officer for the Thames River Trust where she supports capacity building, strategic planning and stakeholder engagement. She is also the current Youth Focal Point for coordinating UN1FY's youth engagement for Latin America and the Caribbean Outreach and network development As part of her scholarship she undertook an internship with the Louis-Dreyfus Foundation on food security projects with smallholder farmers in Argentina: expanding LDF's network of partner organizations and assisting with project design
She also supported the regional LDC South-West Latin America Security, Health, and Environment (SHE) team: with the implementation of a new carbon accounting system (Accuvio) by organizing workshops and providing 1:1 assistance, and controlling environmental KPIs. She holds a degree in Environmental Engineering, from the Universidad Nacional de General San Martin, Argentina. Before arriving at Oxford, she worked as an Environmental Inspector of Industries for the local government. During her years at university, she has developed a strong interest in water treatment, which has led her to specialize in this area. She served as Assistant Professor in the course Modelling and Simulation for Environmental Engineering at her home university, where she taught a special module focused on water waste treatment plant simulation. Mercedes has also participated in a project called Constructed Wetlands, which aimed to provide an alternative to cesspits in suburban settlements. She is passionate about her sector and wants to contribute to sustainable development providing comprehensive solutions to water-related problems.
