Ana Spalding

Dr. Ana Spalding is the Founding Director of the Adrienne Arsht Community-Based Resilience Solutions Initiative at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama; and holds a courtesy faculty appointment at Oregon State University in the US. With interdisciplinary expertise spanning economics, marine affairs, and environmental studies, Ana brings two decades of experience in international development and marine conservation. Ana’s research delves into drivers of global change and their impacts on vulnerable communities, understanding adaptation as a pathway to resilience, and supporting coastal community-based solutions. Through interdisciplinary approaches, she advances resilience science, focusing on marine resource-dependent communities in the US and across the global tropics. Committed to collaboration, she works towards innovative solutions to social-environmental challenges in ocean governance.