UBC Forestry would like to congratulate Marina Melanidis on being awarded UBC’s Young Alumni Award.
“This UBC-wide award is highly competitive and prestigious, and we couldn’t be any prouder. This is a truly phenomenal and well-deserved achievement.” – Shannon Hagerman, Associate Dean, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Rob Kozak, Dean
About the UBC Young Alumni Award
The Alumni UBC Achievement Awards to be celebrated on November 19, 2024, will honour eight inspiring UBC community members. One of these, the Young Alumni Award, recognizes a young UBC alum (35 or under) whose outstanding achievements and leadership in their career or community service inspire others.
About Marina Melanidis
Ms. Marina Melanidis is a climate justice activist who has led youth delegations at conferences such as COP 25 and 26. Her research has focused on managing climate change and biodiversity loss using holistic, nature-based approaches. Marina completed a BSc in Natural Resources Conservation and a MSc from UBC Forestry. Her award-winning MSc thesis, titled Big Ideas with Big Potential Impacts: Narratives and Perceptions of Nature-Based Solutions Across Scales of Governance, explores these themes.
Marina is the Founder of Youth4Nature, an international non-profit organization created by youth, for youth. This organization educates, equips, and empowers young people to become leaders in systemic solutions for nature and climate crises, integrating traditional and scientific knowledge and emphasizing intergenerational justice.
Melanidis has been recognized as a Canadian Climate Champion, Top 25 Environmentalist Under 25, and Top 30 Sustainable Leader Under 30.
Starting in September 2024, Marina will be pursuing a PhD in Geography at the University of Cambridge. Her research will build on her experiences fundraising for grassroots and youth-led biodiversity conservation projects with Youth4Nature. She will explore the narratives and power dynamics within biodiversity conservation philanthropy, aiming to identify funding methods that promote just and effective conservation practices.