Maria del Pilar Peralta Ardila is a Ph.D. candidate at the Rachel Carson Center (RCC) for environment and society and is also affiliated with the Amerika-Institut Cultural Studies, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Maria del Pilar is currently working on her doctoral dissertation about the life stories of women leaders in defense and care of nature in southwestern Colombia, 1990-2022. Before joining the RCC, she studied sociology and held a master's degree in sociology at Universidad del Valle (Univalle) in Cali, Colombia. After her MA, she was a researcher at the School of Public Health at Univalle. Pilar has worked on research projects related to nature, human health, and communities. Her current research explores possibilities between activism, political commitment, and academia. Seeking for the recognition of social leaders in Colombia, who are increasingly threatened, silenced, and murdered. This is in tune with those interests in studying environmental leadership and drawing attention to ways to defend and care for the environment in different territories in South America.