Mateo’s research and practice lie in the intersection of participative design, natural and social sciences. He is an anthropologist and Biologist from Universidad de los Andes and has dedicated 7 years to the design and management of socio-environmental justice projects.  Working in more than 10 cities across 4 countries, he has articulated policy, research, and practice. He is the director and cofounder of Trophica Lab, a youth-led action think tank that mobilizes a network of young leaders and community caregivers to develop strategies that mainstream participatory Nature-based Solutions (NbS). He is a member of the Urban Ecosystems Specialists Team within the IUCN Commission on Environmental Management and the Latin America Young Professional of the Urban Biodiversity Hub, where he is researching Blue and Urban NbS. At SargaSTREAM he is the Master’s Student on Blue Bioeconomy and Sargassum Products Economic Viability, and his goal is to co-design innovative models that implement community-centric bioeconomics