Luisa Fernanda Castro Benavides

Executed deforestation-risk screening for 150+ coffee projects under the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR 1115/2023), integrating satellite land-cover data and 3,000+ GPS field points; and enabled a 40% faster risk-flagging turnaround for sourcing teams.

Processed a 43-year Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) rasters time series for (1970-2023) Lake Chad and the Aral Sea using Google Earth Engine and R; applied pixel-wise linear regression (p < 0.05) to derive annual shrinkage rates informing targeted replenishment zones and revised withdrawal policies.

Coordinated environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental permit studies for three copper-mining concessions in Colombia by designing and deploying a geodatabase in QGIS for concession blocks and 100+ drilling platforms; automated multivariable geodata analysis with 15 Python scripts, cutting data-prep time by 60%.

• Conducted multivariate spatial analyses in ArcGIS/QGIS cross-referencing 35 regulatory criteria to validate pipeline and platform siting; secured 100% environmental compliance and cut design-revision cycles by 40%. • Preparation, analysis and review of environmental impact assessments (EIA) for hydrocarbon exploitation areas, for the purpose of obtaining and/or modifying environmental licences.

• Developed a hydraulic breach models for major drinking-water reservoirs serving population of Bogota Colombia, simulating partial failure scenarios that generated peak discharges up to 900 m³/s and maximum inundation depths; earning flagship recognition and informing flood-mitigation strategies across 15 municipalities. • Engineered a 2D riverine flood-routing model for a strategic oil pipeline corridor on Colombia’s principal river system, running flood scenarios to map major high-risk spill zones.

Technical review of more than 20 Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Environmental Compliance Reports (ICA), in accordance with the Colombian regulatory framework, submitted by companies requiring environmental licensing for the hydrocarbons, mining, infrastructure, and other sectors.