Inspiring people @WUR: Marielos Peña-Claros

Marielos Peña-Claros is professor in the ecology of managed forests. In November 2025 she received the NWO Athena Award for her efforts to empower not only female researchers but also scientists from all nationalities, especially those from the Global South. She ‘leads by example’, concluded the jury.

When Marielos learned that she was nominated for the Athena Award, she was quite surprised. Receiving the award in November meant a lot to her. “I realised that the work I'm doing is valued and seen by my colleagues and former PhD students. Besides, it also put my research field in the spotlight. It's not every day that tropical forest ecology is in the spotlight in the Netherlands. And being an international woman and to be put in the spotlight as well, has a value too.”

Is there also a relation between your field of research tropical forest ecology and the issue of diversity and inclusion?

“Tropical forest ecology and forestry have been traditionally a more male-dominated research field. So, in that sense, there is an issue of diversity in my research field. Over time I have developed several ways to deal with this, but luckily the situation is changing as there are more and more women working in these research fields. Most of my work is done abroad, and I believe that we should play a role in improving the research capacity of tropical countries.”

You received this award, according to the jury report, for being a role model and leading by example. What kind of example are you?

“After my inaugural speech, three years ago, a couple of colleagues mentioned that I was their role model. I was surprised by that. And it made me reflect: if this is the case, what is then expected from me, how should I act, what responsibilities come with it? It put some pressure on me because I felt that I was just doing my work, without really thinking about the impact of the way I do things on people around me. As I have been assuming more leading roles, for example as the co-chair of the Science Panel for the Amazon, I have come to accept that role, and to see it as an opportunity.”

“I want to be a leader who is very inclusive, who is able to create a space in which people feel comfortable to be themselves and to share their ideas in the discussions we have. So, as a leader I try to be as inclusive as possible, to listen and to be open for new ideas.”

Were you always thinking in this way or were there specific moments in your professional career that pushed you in this direction?

“I remember that at some moment, I was biking from home to the university – reflecting because I had to deliver my tenure track portfolio. And at that moment I thought: I will not change myself anymore to adjust myself to the system. I have done a lot to fit in, but at that moment, I decided that was enough. Like focusing a lot on the impact factor of the journal you’re publishing in, rather than who do I want to reach with this article or what is the message that I want to bring? But also, in terms of how to develop my own group.”

“I'm more a communal person than an individualistic person that the system sometimes likes you to be. At the FEM group, where I work, we are with several professors, but I don't feel that we have a sense of competition among us. I appreciate that a lot because that's a system where I can thrive. Being part of a community is important for me because I am much more creative as a researcher when I work in a group. To be able to have that, you need to put effort in creating a positive group atmosphere.”

According to the jury of the Athena Award, you are committed to empower female researchers. In what way do you do that?

“I think the fact that I'm a professor has opened a lot of doors. Not only in terms of possibilities, but also doors in terms of having access to say things and to try to change things. For a lot of young female researchers, having female professors is extremely important because then they see this is something they can do as well. Obviously, it does speak to people to have an international professor in a Dutch university. How many are there? There are very few. Wageningen University has many international students, but the number of internationals decreases as you climb up the ladder.”

The jury also pointed at your empowering scientists from all nationalities, especially from the global south. Why is that important?

“Here at the university we are training people from all over the world, we are training the new generation of researchers or managers that are going to go to many different countries in the tropics. In that sense the impact that we can have as Wageningen University is tremendous.”

“In the Science Panel for the Amazon there has been a lot of emphasis on having not only top international researchers included in the network, but also researchers from the Amazonian countries. Amazonian researchers are an important voice because they are doing the research, they are there all the time, and they have a lot to contribute. If you look only at high impact factors, you will get a very different list. It's a mix that we need. I'm not necessarily just advocating to include the voice of scientists from the south, but more to have a more diverse group of people.”

You are a professor in tropical forest ecology, but you were also voicing protests at Wageningen University against ABP. Are you an activist-scientist?

“The issue with the ABP really got into my heart, into my essence as a person. The work that I do is to conserve tropical forests, restore them, and manage them properly. And then my retirement funds were being put through the investments made by ABP to cut the forest I'm trying to conserve! That didn't equate for me and other colleagues.”

“In that sense I'm becoming a bit more of an activist. It is not that I'm taking to the streets. As in some of the work that I'm doing in the Science Panel, getting the message through to politicians, to policymakers and sharing your knowledge, is also a form of activism.”

Do you think as a scientist you have a responsibility to be an activist?

“I think we do have a responsibility to be activists, but you need to do something that fits with you and that you feel comfortable with, not only as a scientist, but also as a person. Since very early age I have been somebody who was aware of injustice and wanted to do something about it. But as with ABP I don’t take a confrontational position; we always said we wanted a dialogue with ABP, to sit together and discuss how to improve their policies. And that is what we did.”

“What Extinction Rebellion is doing is amazing, but it may be a bridge too far for me. At the same time, you start wondering. How far do I go, what is the position that I should take? These questions are more often in my head because being a professor gives me a position with more influence that may help moving some issues forward.”

It's the official vision of Wageningen University that it doesn't matter at all who you love, what language you speak, where you were born or what you believe.

“It's a vision where we want to get. We are still not there, but I do see quite a lot of improvements. When I arrived here back in 2006 most of the information was in Dutch. I just started replying to all these emails: Please, in English, if it's important. That was my mantra until the university became officially a bilingual university. I think that has changed quite a lot, and that's really a step forward.”

“However, there are still things to improve. It will be good to have more support for international people and to connect international people more with each other, so we can exchange information how to deal with things. There are a lot of unwritten rules at WUR. If you have been long at WUR, you know those unwritten rules, but if you are not, then you just don't know how things work. In that sense, there's still terrain to gain.”

And do you think Wageningen University is doing enough to empower female researchers?

“It’s never enough, because we have a long tradition to break. The Women Professors Monitor 2025 says we almost are 30% female professors in the Netherlands. We are improving, but we are still not at 50%. There are some barriers that are difficult to deal with.”

“The emphasis has been on emancipating women, but we also need to emancipate men so they can assume tasks that are traditionally considered female tasks. Change is needed to be more egalitarian. I cannot work 40 hours per week and raise my kids and do the shopping and clean my house and all of that if I don't have a partner that shares half of those tasks with me. I would like to have a discussion on how the university can facilitate researchers to make it possible to fulfil your family obligations and at the same time do your work. We are supposed to excel in our research field, the question is then how the university can facilitate this more than it does at this moment.”