Doris Oliva is a Professor of Ecology and Marine Biology and was the director of the Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, and Director of Research at Universidad de Valparaíso (Chile). She is the head of Laboratory of Applied Ecology and Copulhue Lab on Chiloé Island and principal researcher at Centro de Investigación y Gestión de Recursos Naturales (CIGREN), Facultad de Ciencias. She has undertaken research on ecology, coastal management, user rights and marine cultures funded by national and international organizations including Conicyt (Fondecyt, FONDEF and Explora), CORFO (INNOVA Chile, Go to Market and SRI International), IDRC and others. She is currently a member of the World Ocean Assessment and Climate Change Commission of United Nations.