The Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee (IPAC) is an advisory body to the IAI comprised of five members initially selected by a Selection Committee composed of representatives from the Executive Directorate, the EDI Committee, the SAC and the SPAC. The members of IPAC come from diverse indigenous peoples of the Americas and bring with them backgrounds that combine indigenous knowledge and science, community practice, territorial leadership and academic training, constituting diverse profiles that articulate indigenous and Western knowledge.
IPAC is responsible for making recommendations to the Conference of the Parties on the Scientific Agenda, the Strategic Plan, the implementation of the Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, and the IAI’s annual program. This work seeks to strengthen the IAI’s work and transdisciplinary approach, ensuring that indigenous peoples’ approaches and priorities are considered in the production and application of knowledge on global environmental change in the Americas.
Current Composition of the IPAC
Myrle Ballard (Canada)
Acting Vice President
Anishinaabe from the Lake St. Martin First Nation in Manitoba
University of Calgary, Canada Research Chair (Tier II) and Associate Professor.
Fields of work: Environmental management and natural resources, ‘Three-Eyed Seeing’ approach, flood management in Indigenous territories, Indigenous science.
Nominated by Canada and a member of the IAI’s Science Advisory Committee (SAC).
Appointment: 2025-2026
Oliva Patricia Suárez Torres (Colombia)
Murui-Muina people
Advisor to the General Coordination of the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC). Coordinator of the Legal Security Plan for the Protection of Indigenous Territories in the Colombian Amazon at OPIAC. Technical Secretary of the National Commission for the Protection of Peoples in Isolation.
Fields of work: defense of the territorial, environmental and cultural rights of Indigenous peoples in Colombia and the Amazon region, connecting Indigenous and Western knowledge.
Nominated by OPIAC.
Appointment: 2025-2026
Francisco Ramiro Batzín Chojoj (Guatemala)
Maya Kaqchikel
Founder of the Sotz’il Association – Maya Kaqchikel; Vice-President and Councillor of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Co-President of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity.
Fields of work: natural resources, climate change, buen vivir [good living], traditional knowledge and governance.
Nominated by Guatemala.
Appointment: 2025-2026
Cristina Elizabeth Fueres Guitarra (Ecuador)
Acting President
Kichwa nationality, Panzaleo people, San Ignacio community
Member of the Chocó Andino Youth Network and the Latin American Model Forest Youth Network. Research fellow for the Forest Leaders for (ILM) project at EcoAgriculture Partners.
Fields of work: forest governance, rural Indigenous women, tropical forests and biodiversity.
Nominated by the Latin American Model Forest Youth Network.
Appointment: 2025-2026
Guipsy Katherine Alata Ramos (Perú)
Quechua, Qanchi Nation
Specialist in mainstreaming the intercultural approach, General Directorate of Intercultural Citizenship, Ministry of Culture, Peru.
Fields of work: bilingual law, Indigenous rights and interculturality, Indigenous linguistics.
Nominated by Perú.
Appointment: 2025-2026
