Misryoum profiles a climate student leader whose firsthand experiences shaped a career in climate adaptation finance and community action.
A coral reef’s sudden bleaching and a community’s shifting rainfall patterns can do more than shock you. For Marina Saguar Urquiola, those encounters helped turn a general interest in world affairs into a clear mission: make climate adaptation finance work for the people most affected.
Her path began with studies in Spain and later an exchange that brought her to Australia.. While diving near the Great Barrier Reef, she saw visibly stressed corals, an experience that stayed with her.. In Fiji. she lived with a local community and witnessed how climate change is already rewriting day-to-day life. from farming changes driven by shifting rains to impacts on fishing and sea levels.
In this context, the message is simple but powerful: adaptation is not abstract. It is about practical support for communities navigating changes that can arrive quickly and unevenly.
After returning home, Urquiola directed her attention toward the financial side of solutions.. Her thesis centered on sustainable development. followed by work in climate finance consulting. including exposure to the Green Climate Fund framework.. That shift helped narrow her focus to adaptation finance. positioning funding as a tool to reduce harm and strengthen resilience where it matters most.
Her decision to enroll in the Columbia Climate School reflects a deliberate balancing act.. With a background in social sciences. international relations. and communications. she sought stronger scientific grounding while keeping climate and society at the center of her training.. The program’s blend of skills—from climate risk assessment to broader climate-society perspectives—appealed to her because it mirrors the real-world complexity of climate action.
This matters because climate leadership increasingly depends on more than awareness. It requires people who can connect lived impacts, scientific understanding, and the design of funding approaches that can actually be delivered.
Now. Urquiola is recognized with the 2026 Campbell Award for community leadership and service. and she continues to build experience through volunteering with the UN Environmental Program Financial Initiative. working on the adaptation team.. She describes her goal as staying focused on adaptation. even if the niche can be challenging. and keeping geography flexible so that opportunities can follow the work.
Her outlook on entering the climate space emphasizes collaboration over competition.. In her view. climate change work is fundamentally collective: progress in adaptation and resilience benefits everyone. and durable impact grows through relationships.. She encourages newcomers to invest in the people they work with and to build community as a core strategy. not an afterthought.
At the end of the day, that shared-team framing is more than motivation. It is a practical guide for how climate efforts scale, survive setbacks, and keep momentum toward adaptation outcomes people can feel.