Dr. Rodríguez Chaves has more than fifteen years of experience working with environmental non-governmental organizations and as an independent consultant on various environmental issues. She has a Law Degree and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Law from the University of Costa Rica; and a PhD from the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) Law School. Currently, she is a consultant to the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), where she is responsible for coordinating action lines with the Latin American countries for the ratification of the biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction Agreement. Mariamalia is also a senior postdoctoral fellow in the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute currently working in the Future Oceans Programme. She is a member of the Group of Experts of the United Nations Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects (Regular Process), and a member of the Legal and Technical Committee of the International Seabed Authority.