Diana Giraldo Mendez

Diana joined the International Potato Center in Peru in 2008, where she pursued her Master's studies in Meteorology at the National Agrarian University La Molina. Her studies were accredited by the WMO, and she had a placement at the Center for Weather Forecasts and Climate Studies (CPTEC) in Brazil. She later returned to her country and has been working as a Climate Scientist for CIAT in Cali since 2012.

She has recently completed her Ph.D. program at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, focusing on Climate Services for Agriculture in Latin America within the School of Agriculture, Policy, and Development.

Diana has co-led the implementation of 72 Technical Agroclimatic Committees in 11 countries and has facilitated Participatory Climate Services with farmers in 5 countries across Latin America. She is a member of the climate and crop modeling team that received a United Nations award in 2017 during the COP23 ceremony for their significant contributions to bridging the gap between generating climate information and its practical application by farmers.