Marlène Elias

Alliances Module Leader; Gender research coordinator
Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
Leads CGIAR GENDER Platform

Bio

Marlène Elias is a Senior Scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and Gender Research Coordinator for the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry. She leads gender research and gender integration in the Alliance’s research and practice, with emphasis on strengthening the capacities of staff to conduct participatory, gender-responsive research that will challenge inequitable norms and deliver positive and equitable benefits to women and men across food systems. Rooted in a feminist political ecology approach, her research focuses on gendered dimensions of forest management and restoration, local ecological knowledge(s), and forest amd agri-food value chains, predominantly in West Africa and South and Central Asia. She holds a PhD in Geography from McGill University, Montreal, Canada.