Daniela MacAya

About Daniela MacAya

Motivated by the mission to protect and restore the health of our environment, I bring a multidisciplinary approach as a Costa Rican native with experience in project coordination, local community engagement, research, communications, storytelling, and project leadership. I graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Environmental Studies, specializing in Biodiversity & Conservation, with distinction in the major, coupled with a minor in Energy Studies.I have gained hands-on experience working at the Executive Office of the CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under the World Bank, National Geographic Society, Tectonic, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD. I am also an Ocean Voices Fellow, where I lead an independent research project on the UN High Seas Treaty implementation in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.Additionally, I have attended COP28 and COP29 as a delegate, supporting organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Rotary International, and Nature Now International, and was invited to speak on two panels. As a writer and illustrator, I authored a children\'s book on plastic pollution published by UNICEF in 2021, which was later adapted into an animated video and showcased at United Nations High-Level events ahead of the Third UN Ocean Conference in Nice (UNOC3). My work has been featured in over 40 media outlets.

Experience

1. Ocean Voices Fellow

   Ocean Voices Programme

   Oct 2025 — Present

   Leading an independent research project on BBNJ Treaty implementation in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, with the support of the Nippon Foundation-University of Edinburgh Ocean Voices programme, an ocean science diplomacy initiative dedicated to building capacity and connecting the voices of ocean-dependent people to ocean science and policy in the UN Decade and beyond.

Education

• Yale University

  B.A. Environmental Studies