Dr Paulina Flores Martinez
Postdoctoral researcher

Profile

Biography

Paulina joined the Department of Politics and International Relations as a Postdoctoral researcher in January 2024 and is mentored by Professor Tony Heron. She has previously been part of the Department while conducting her doctoral degree in Environment and Politics. Alongside, she is an SEI-affiliated researcher, collaborating with the Sustainable Production and Consumption team at the SEI-York office. Her PhD was supervised by Prof Tony Heron and Prof Chris West (SEI-York). Paulina works on the intersections of political economy and environmental studies. Her current research explores the sustainability governance of global trade with a particular interest in the cases of agri-food commodities.

Before pursuing an academic career Paulina held public servant and consultancy positions at National and sub-national offices in her home country, Mexico. Similarly, she gained in-depth experience as a consultant for NGOs and think tanks on environmental, climate change and development policies. Paulina holds an MSC in Public Administration and Policy and a BA in Economics. She is currently co-leading an early career researchers network on trade and the environment, Green Trade Lab.

Research

Overview

Paulina's research sits at the intersection of political economy and environmental studies. Her doctoral project examined the processes of sustainability governance for two environmentally sensitive agri-food value chains, soybeans and beef. Her project was informed by three intersected scholarships, transnational environmental governance, global value chains and global environmental politics. Focusing on the cases of Brazil and Mexico, she unpacked the intertwining of value chain and sustainability governance, and the various understandings of sustainability within and ‘out of' value chains. Her research contributes to examining the prospects for sustainability governance mechanisms (standards, certifications, multi-stakeholder commitments) to gain uptake and legitimacy, as well as the identification of political factors enabling or hindering their effectiveness. She is currently focused on publishing her PhD research and developing grant applications for larger projects on the soybeans case and the upcoming EU and UK deforestation-free due diligence legislation.

Publications

Selected publications

• Doherty B, Sidhu Y, Heron T, West C, Seaton A, Gulec J, Prado P and Flores Martinez P. (2020). Citizen participation in food systems policy making: A case study of a citizens’ assembly. Emerald Open Research, 2. 22.

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Global Food Systems and Advanced Quantitative Analysis.

Postgraduate

Other teaching

• Paulina has previously taught as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) for modules in the Departments of Politics and Environment.