María Elena Barragán-Paladines

For more than 30 years, María Elena Barragán-Paladines has travelled throughout Ecuador, determined to change the negative stigma surrounding venomous snakes and promote the conservation of Ecuadorian ecosystems.

María currently serves as the executive director of the Gustavo Orces Herpetological Foundation, an Ecuadorian Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that is globally recognised in the field of herpetology.

Her work has led to biodiversity discoveries, influenced the next generation of herpetology professionals and has brought greater awareness and training to thousands of people in the local community.

For years, María has dedicated her life to the study, conservation and protection of reptiles and amphibians in Ecuador. She also works tirelessly to educate rural and urban communities on how to reduce the negative impact of venomous snakebites.

Across the globe, snakebites are a major public health crisis, which affects 5.4 million people each year, kills up to 138,000 and leaves 400,000 suffering permanent physical and psychological disabilities.

María leads training programs designed to educate people on how to recognise venomous species and how to stop and reduce the impact of snakebites on human health.

In her career, María has successfully provided training and education programs to around 200,000 children in Ecuador and more than 5,000 people from the coastal and Amazonian communities.

She has also trained more than 3,000 young professionals on general topics in biodiversity, the value of amphibians and reptiles in Ecuadorian ecosystems, the incidence of snakebite accidents, and how to prevent and treat snakebites.

María first discovered her love and admiration for snakes in 1990, where she volunteered at the Gustavo Orces Herpetological Foundation while studying biology. She said her passion, drive and focus allowed her to work her way up to her current position.

“Here I am, 31 years later, as the executive director of the same organisation where I started as a volunteer,” she said.

“This is not an easy field—you need to fight and keep working hard.”

In 2021, María was invited by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be part of their advisory group to achieve their strategic aim of reducing snakebite mortality and disability by 50 per cent by 2030.

In 2020, she received a Women Leaders in Snake Conservation and Research award by the NGO, Save The Snakes. That same year, she was part of the Women Champions of Snakebite project—a global snakebite initiative, and was also a key partner in the 2020 International Snakebite Awareness Day.

María continues to receive international recognition for her ongoing work in herpetology, including being named Griffith Science's 2020 Outstanding International Alumnus. María says she is extremely humbled by the award and will utilise such accolades to further inspire women to achieve their dreams.

“As a woman, coming from Latin-America, we fight hard to have a career and to have a voice. Being a woman is against you, so being strong and focused helps,” she said.

“This award is not something to add to my ego, but it is certainly an important tool to achieve other dreams.”

In 2011, Maria was awarded an international scholarship to study a Master of Environment, Education for Sustainability at Griffith University, which she says was pivotal in shaping her career.

“I am convinced that through education you can influence and change attitudes—you can impact and achieve important changes in minds to reach more environmentally sensitive citizens,” she said.

“The structure of Griffith’s program provided me with the necessary tools for my projects to combine biological, social, ethical and political aspects according to the demands, trends and needs in the field of conservation.”

“The holistic vision of environmental issues, as well as educational aspects at multidisciplinary levels, the opportunities to learn and share with different backgrounds and experiences, helped me to focus and design my conservation projects and programs in Ecuador correctly.”