Bio

I am a human geographer with interdisciplinary research and teaching interests in questions of power in socio-environmental relations, ranging from food practices, agriculture and conservation biology. As an Assistant Professor at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at GVSU, my scholarship, teaching and service are directed towards facilitating constructive dialogue. I teach classes designed to foster integrative thinking about complex human-environment dynamics from multiple disciplines. My latest research examines how notions of race and gender work together in ideas of appropriate human-land relations to legitimize processes of uneven development with a focus in Latin America.

Areas of Interest

My research on food, agriculture and conservation biology addresses complex human-environment relationships from a political ecology perspective.

Education

Ph.D. in Geography, University of Colorado Boulder (2020)
Masters of Science (MS) in Forestry, Yale School of the Environment (2012)
Degree in Biological Sciences, National University of Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina (2008)

Publications

Castro-Vargas, S., Hernández Rodríguez, C., Navas, G., Castañón Ballivián, E., Xu, Y., & Marini, D. A. (2025). Pesticides and food sovereignty:(dis) connections and challenges for agrarian movements. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 1-31.

Marini, Daniela Ayelén (2023). White spatial politics in mainstream agroecology activism in Argentina. Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, 18 (2): 282 - 295

Awards

Outstanding Teaching Award (2023). GVSU Graduate Student Association Award for Outstanding Faculty.