Florencia Zapata is an anthropologist and naturalist, specializing in sustainable management of mountain ecosystems, participatory action-research methodologies and social memory.

She has worked at the Instituto de Montaña in Peru for over 20 years, collaborating on environmental conservation, climate change adaptation and cultural affirmation projects in the Andes. Her recent work topics include: nature-based solutions with an emphasis on ecosystem-based adaptation, sustainable and participative management of mountain ecosystems and ancestral technologies for water management in the Andes. Zapata is a member of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) and the Permanent Seminar on Agrarian Research (SEPIA).