Sandra Patricia Loaiza Mera

Dr. Sandra Patricia Loaiza Mera is a researcher at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and is part of the Sustainable Finance (ImpactSF) group within the Alliance. She currently serves as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the CGIAR Hub for Sustainable Finance. She holds a PhD in Engineering and Applied Sciences from Pontifical Javeriana University (2026) and a Master’s degree from the National University of Colombia (2017). She has built an outstanding scientific career at CIAT since 2011, where she previously served as a Research Assistant.

Her expertise focuses on climate change mitigation and adaptation in strategic agricultural systems, specializing in quantifying greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and modeling carbon balances using advanced scientific tools such as the FAO's EX-Ante Carbon-balance Tool (EX-ACT). Her doctoral research primarily focused on rice farming systems (Oryza sativa), assessing the impact of agronomic management practices—specifically studying the effects of intermittent irrigation (AWD - Alternate Wetting and Drying) and continuous irrigation methods employed by small farmers in the Tolima region—as well as identifying rice varieties with low methane emissions and evaluating heat-stress-tolerant genotypes.

In addition to her agronomic and climate research, Dr. Loaiza plays an active role at the intersection of climate science and sustainable finance. At the CGIAR Hub for Sustainable Finance, she contributes to developing science-based impact KPIs to empower financial institutions and investors (such as the Climate-Smart Agriculture & Food Systems Fund - CSFS in partnership with Incofin and responsAbility) to drive nature-positive and climate-smart agricultural systems.

In the academic arena, she has served as co-Principal Investigator in 9 research projects funded by various international donors and has authored and co-authored 12 refereed journal articles. She has actively contributed to the capacity building of PhD, Master's, and Undergraduate students enrolled at universities across Colombia, Nigeria, the USA, Argentina, Nicaragua, Brazil, and Trinidad and Tobago.