Ximena Peralta Minutti

MSc Student

Ximena Peralta Minutti is an international MSc student in Geography at the University of Victoria (UVic). She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, graduating cum laude from Universidad de las Américas Puebla in Mexico. Her research focuses on environmental justice and the local implementation of environmental policies in Latin America, with particular attention to Mexico’s Sembrando Vida (“Sowing Life”) program. Her MSc research examines how the program is experienced and implemented locally in Los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, focusing on participants’ experiences, local knowledge and agency, and the ways a national environmental policy is negotiated and adapted in practice.

Ximena is also a Mitacs Business Strategy Intern with The Chocolate Project, Canada’s largest craft chocolate retailer and educator. Her project, Flavoring Sustainability: Consumer Education and Sensory Learning in the Canadian Craft Chocolate Sector, explores how sensory education, cacao origin stories, and sustainability communication can be translated into engaging educational experiences for consumers.

She has extensive field experience across terrestrial and marine environments, including community-based restoration, ecological monitoring, and agroforestry systems. She was selected for the Mitacs Globalink Research Internship at UVic in 2024, where she gained research experience in marine bioacoustics. Her academic path is motivated by a commitment to bridging science, governance, and public engagement to address socio-environmental challenges in Latin America while contributing to sustainability education and knowledge mobilization in Canada.