Melissa Pineda Pinto is a McKenzie Postdoctoral Researcher Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Using a multispecies justice approach, her project, Justice for Multispecies Ecologies, focuses on visibilising urban novel ecosystems in derelict spaces through diverse co-design and critical geography interventions in the cities of Melbourne, Australia and San José, Costa Rica.
She worked and continues to collaborate on the project NovelEco, based at Trinity College Dublin. Here she worked as a postdoctoral research fellow looking at novel ecosystems in cities through forecasting and co-design methodologies and policy analysis. Mel completed her PhD at Swinburne University of Technology which critically explored nature-based solutions through an ecological justice lens. She has a Master of Environment from the University of Melbourne. This work is informed by previous architectural and planning experience in the industry and not-for-profit sectors.
Her transdisciplinary collaborations and work span different geographies, including Australia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Her academic experience and interests cut across social research methods, inter-transdisciplinary collaboration, and systems thinking in the context of urban ecosystems, justice, and ethics. Her research examines urban nature through diverse justice lenses for achieving sustainable futures. As an early career researcher, Mel has published 10 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and popular science pieces. She will be the Chief Investigator in 2024 of a project exploring urban biodiversity and justice through community engagement in the cities of Melbourne, Australia and San José, Costa Rica.
- Pineda-Pinto, M, Kennedy, C, Collier, M, Cooper, C, O’Donnell, M, Nulty, F, & Castaneda, NR (2023). Finding justice in wild, novel ecosystems: A review through a multispecies lens. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 127902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2023.127902
- Pineda-Pinto, M, Lennon, M, Kennedy, C, O’Donnell, M, Andersson, E, Wijsman, K, and Collier, MJ, (i2025). Realizing multispecies justice through a capability approach to promote nature-based solutions. npj Urban Sustain 5, 31. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00205-z
- Pineda-Pinto, M., Kennedy, C., Nulty, F., & Collier, M. (2024). Leverage points for improving urban biodiversity conservation in the Anthropocene: A novel ecosystem lens for social-ecological transformation. Environmental Science & Policy, 162, 103926. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103926
- Pineda-Pinto, M, Collier, M, Cooper, C, O’Donnell, M, Nulty, F, Rodríguez Catañeda, N (2024). Exploring urban novel ecosystems: understandings, insights and recommendations for research and practice. Futures, 164, 103487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2024.103487
- Gillespie, J., Pineda-Pinto, M., Dan Penny et al. Subjects of justice: rethinking invasive weeds through multispecies justice. npj Urban Sustain 5, 85 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00281-1
- Wijsman, K., Pineda-Pinto, M., Sarkki, S. et al. Rethinking trade-offs in nature-based solutions from a multispecies justice perspective. npj Urban Sustain 5, 67 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00261-5
