DÉBORA SIMÓN-BAILE received her Ph.D. in oceanography and paleoclimatology from the University of Salamanca, Spain, in 2011. During her PhD, she had the opportunity to participate in research stays in Barcelona, Portugal, and the United States. For one month she also participated in the Pacific oceanographic cruise (GoCAL4) for a month. Since completing her Ph.D., she has worked abroad: during 2012, in the Marine and Coastal Program of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN, in Vietnam; and since 2013, as lecturer and researcher in two universities in Ecuador.
Her research interests focus on the role of the ocean in climate change mitigation (blue carbon), as well as ocean-related hazards such as ENSO and ocean acidification. She has performed field research in the Ecuadorian coast, the Galapagos, and Antarctica, and she is also an active member of the Ecuadorian Network of Climate Change, aiming to fill the gap between academia and decision-makers.