Zabrina Welter

• Since 10/2020:
  Doctoral Candidate at the Chair of Sustainability Governance at the University of Freiburg
  Research project ‘Territorialisation Dynamics in Post-Conflict Extractive Resources Governance Analysing Formalisation Processes of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Zones in Colombia” (provisional title)
  Doctoral scholarship Heinrich-Böll Foundation
• 11/2015 – 9/2020:
  Student Assistant and Research Fellow at the Chair of Sustainability Governance at the University of Freiburg
• 10/2019-07/2020:
  Research Fellow at the Peace Academy Rhineland-Palatinate at the University of Koblenz-Landau
  Research and project proposal preparation on post-conflict natural resource governance, organisation of academic event on post-conflict natural resource management.
• 07/2019-01/2020:
  Consultant at Disaster Management Branch, UN Environment, Geneva, Switzerland
  Support project management and project reporting activities of the branch. Assistance to hzdrocarbon remediation project.
• 04/2017 – 10/2017:
  Communications Intern at Disaster Management Branch, UN Environment, Geneva, Switzerland
  Support communications for projects of the branch. Content creator for MOOC on Environmental Security and Sustaining Peace.
• 08/2017 – 10/2017:
  Intern at Biodiversity International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  Development of a field guide for community-based monitoring of biodiversity
• 03/2013 – 07/2015:
  Project Assistant & Assistant the Executive Secretary at Convenio Andrés Bello Intergovernmental Organisation, Bogota, Colombia
  Assistance to projects related to rural development and social appropriation of scientific knowledge. Editing diverse publications of the organisation.

Stages of the academic education

• 09/2015 – 08/2018
  MSc Environmental Governance at the University of Freiburg
• 07/2007 – 10/2012
  Political Science and International Relations at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia
  Concentration in conflict resolution and peacebuilding

Zabrina’s work examines the interlinkages between extractivism, socio-environmental conflicts, and territorial relations, with particular attention to Latin America. Her background is in Political Science with a focus on conflict resolution and peacebuilding and environmental governance studies. Her research problematizes the espansion of illegal mining in afro-descendant rural territories in Colombia. By engaging with critical perspectives from political ecology, feminist theory, and critical geography, she explores the profound impact of mining extractivism on the daily lives and territories of Black communities. Her work delves into how these communities navigate and respond to the challenges posed by such extractive activities.

Her current research foci are in the following areas:

• Political ecology
• Critical geography
• Natural resource governance
• Power conflicts
• Peace and conflict studies
• Latin America, Colombia

• “Human-Environmental Interactions” (MEG, Core Module)
• “Environmental Conflict Management and Participation” (MEG, Core Module)
• “Empirical Social Science Research Methods” (MEG, Core Module)

• Welter, Z., & Espinosa, C. (2025). Forging territorial justice: Afro-Colombian legal mobilization and the prefiguration of territorial authority in northern Cauca. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486251406483
• Welter, Zabrina, & Rojas, Axel (2024): Spatial repertoires of power in the production of mining territories in northern Cauca, Colombia: Between imposition and negotiation. Environment and Security, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/27538796241263216
• Welter, Zabrina & Ankenbrand, Christina (2020): Expert Roundtable Discussion: Formalisation Processes in Extractive Sectors as part of State- and Peacebuilding Strategies. Die Friedens-Warte 93 (3-4), 443-449.
• Ankenbrand, Christina; Welter, Zabrina & Engwicht, Nina (2021): Formalization as a Tool for Environmental Peacebuilding? Insights from Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Environmental Peacebuilding, special issue on International Affairs, edited by Carl Bruch, Alexander Carius, Geoffrey D. Dabelko, Tobias Ide, and Erika Weinthal.
• Welter, Zabrina & Wissmann, Sarah (2019): Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict-Beyond the ILC. A workshop report. Humanitäres Völkerrecht 2(1-2):111-4.
• Welter, Zabrina & Jalonen, Riina (2019): Forest Biodiversity Monitoring: Guide to community-based approaches. Rome: Bioversity International. Published at: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99532