Universidad de Sevilla Research Team

Leandro del Moral Ituarte

Team Leader
Professor of Geography at the University of Seville, where he is the chair of  the  Department of Human Geography. He holds a BS in Geography and History from the Complutense University of Madrid and a PhD in Geography from the University of Seville. He has conducted research and advised and evaluated decision-making processes related to water management in Andalusia, Spain and European Union. His current research focus also includes water and land use planning in Latin America and the United States. He is part of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation New Water Culture, of  which the was President from 2007 to 2009. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Seville's Metropolitan Water Company (EMASESA) between 1993 and 2011. More information

Alba Ballester Ciuro

Her research interests are water governance, risk governance and water conflict management. Phd Candidate in social innovation and transformation. BS in Education; BA in Social and Cultural Anthropology; MS in Sustainable river management and integrated water management; MA in Social and Cultural Anthropology; MA in Cultural Tourism. She has been teaching Social Anthropology at University of Zaragoza (Spain). She has worked as a consultant on sustainable water management, as a public participation advisor in water planning, and as a facilitator of participatory processes, for different public administrations, consulting companies, and non-governmental organizations from the water sector. Her research has focused on the analysis of public participation on water planning, social capacity building in relation to floods management, the design of natural hazards prevention public policies, and the analysis of new forms of collective action.

Violeta Cabello Villarejo

Environmental Scientist with MS degrees in Applied Ecology (Halmstad University, Sweden) and Integrated Watershed Management (University of Granada, Spain). Her former research was oriented to water quality modelling and constructed wetlands design for wastewater reclamation. She worked as FP7 project manager in Bioazul S.L. During 2009/2010. Her PhD is devoted to develop the Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystems Metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach to study water use in semi-arid Mediterranean river basins. Her main aims are to step forward in the comprehension of the complex interaction between socio-economic and ecological processes, develop methodologies to assist participatory multi-criteria evaluation of sustainability of water use, analyse the integration of water and other policies and follow the Water Framework Directive implementation in Spain. She is a member of the New Water Culture Foundation (FNCA) and the Participation and Sustainability Association (PASOS).  Since February 2013, she is part of the Executive Board of the Spanish Ecological Economics Association. More information

Nuria Hernandez-Mora

Specialist in water governance and water policy analysis. She holds a BS in Economics and Business Administration from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas in Madrid, and MS degrees in natural resources policy from Cornell University and in water resources management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has participated in research projects focusing on water governance, risk management and vulnerability to extreme climatic events. She has worked as a consultant for non-profit and governmental organizations, including the Spanish Ministry of the Environment and the World Bank. She actively participates in Spanish water policy evaluation and analysis through her involvement with the Foundation for a New Water Culture (Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua), which she currently presides. More information

Natalia Limones Rodríguez

She has a BS in Geography (2006) and a Diploma in Advanced Studies in Physical Geography, Environmental Changes and Natural Hazards (2008) from the University of Sevilla. She also has an MSc in Water Resources Management from the University of Bristol (UK). She completed an Expert Course in Statistics in 2009 from the University of Seville and an Expert Course in Geographic Information Systems from the International University of Andalusia (UNIA) in 2008. She is also a Programmer/ Consulter in C and C++ (Technical University of Madrid / UNED). Her PhD dissertation (June 2013) is titled "Hydrological drought in the Spanish Mediterranean region. Proposal of implementation of the IESP index to runoff datasets".  She works in the Department of Physical Geography and Regional Geographical Analysis, University of Seville, since 2007, currently linked to the SWAN project- Sustainable Water Action: Building research links between the US and EU". More information

Juan Mariano Camarillo

He holds a PhD in Physical Geography from the University of Seville. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Geography at the University of Seville. His research is mainly focused on geographical information systems design, drought monitoring, spatial database modeling and spatial pattern analysis for climatic variables. He has participated in several research projects in colaboration with the Environmental Agency of Andalusia, the Institute of Cartography of Andalusia and private consulting companies. He is currently part of the research team in the EU-funded project "SWAN - Sustainable Water Action: Building research links between the US and EU". More information

Belen Pedregal Mateos

Professor at the Human Geography Department of the University of Seville, where she coordinates the Master Degree in Spatial Planning and Local Development. She holds a M.A. degree in cartography and regional planning from Northwestern University (IL, USA) and a PHD in Geography from the University of Seville. She has been collaborating in a number of projects related to population mobility, water management and spatial planning. Along with prof. Mª Fernanda Pita she has coordinated the Third Report on Andalusia Spatial Development (2011). Prior to her 1996 appointment to the University of Seville she collaborated with the Geography Department of the National University of Distance Education and served as consultant to and employee of an environmental consulting firm and regional government agencies. More information

Maria Fernanda Pita Lopez

She holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Seville and a Diploma in Climatology from the University of Dijon (France). She is currently Professor of Physical Geography at the Department of Regional Geographical Analysis and Physical Geography of the University of Seville and director of the GIEST Research Group. Her main research areas are natural hazards, climatology and environmental indicators. She has participated in several research projects, of which SWAN, GESTISEQ and GUADALSEQ are currently ongoing. She was the director of the Department of Regional Geographical Analysis and Physical Geography of the University of Seville, and member of the Expert Committee on Drought of the Spanish Ministry of Environment. She is also a member of the Expert Committee on Climate Change in Andalusia. She is a founding member of the Spanish Association of Climatology (AEC) of which she served as Secretary, and member of the Board of the International Association of Climatology (AIC) and of the Association of Spanish Geographers (AGE). More information

Sergio Segura Calero

Graduated in Geography at the University of Seville, 2009. He is Master in Territorial Management and Local Development and Expert in Economic, Demographic And Social Statistics. He was substitute teacher for two years in the Human Geography Department (University of Seville) and now He is a PhD Student, granted with a scholarship by Ministry of Education. He is investigating about spatial planning (monitoring mechanisms and evaluation tools) and integrating river basin planning and spatial planning. Also, he has participated in the European IP-Seminar on Geography of Water: Sustainable water policies in Europe during last three years. More information

María Villarin Clavería

She holds a BS in Geography from the University of Seville, where she is a PhD candidate in Geography, working on household water demand factors. She holds MS degrees in GIS (2008-2009) and Environment, and in Territorial Management and Local Development. She worked in EMASESA, Municipal Water Supply and Sanitation in Seville, in the Department of Supervision and Documentation (2009). She participated in the European IP-Seminar on Geography of Water: Sustainable water policies in Europe during the last two years. She has carried out research stays at the University of Barcelona and the University of Arizona. More information