Dr. Shelley MacDonell holds a PhD (2009) from the University of Otago, New Zealand. She is currently the lead researcher in charge of the glaciology line at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas (CEAZA). She has considerable experience in Earth science, and has published in hydrological, climatological, geomorphological and glaciological journals. Dr. MacDonell thrives on interdisciplinary research, and has successfully collaborated in national and international projects which have crossed both disciplinary and methodological boundaries. Her main areas of research focus on understanding the impact of climate change in cold regions, including glacier-climate interactions and understanding cryospheric contributions to local catchments in semi-arid and arid regions.