Since she was a child, Marina Saguar Urquiola felt a deep sense that she wanted her life to mean something to the world. As she entered college in her home country of Spain and traveled to Australia and New Zealand, Urquiola discovered a way to achieve this goal: She would focus on climate adaptation through finance.
Now, as an M.A. in Climate and Society student at Columbia Climate School, Urquiola has been recognized with the 2026 Campbell Award for her community leadership and service. In the Q&A below, she talks about the formative international experiences that brought her face-to-face with climate change impacts, and why community is at the center of everything she does.
What got you interested in climate work?
I always wanted to have an impact on the world, which sounds pretty dreamy, but that’s why I decided to study international relations and global communications in college. I knew I wanted to understand how the world works and the systems that shaped people’s lives. I also wanted a global challenge, which drew me into climate change.
I did an exchange program in Australia at the University of Sydney. I always wanted to visit the Great Barrier Reef, and when I was there, we went diving with my friends. It was going be this incredible experience, but I was very surprised at how bleached the corals were. That really struck me.
During that time, I took a trip to Fiji, where I stayed with a local community and saw firsthand how climate change was basically rewriting their daily lives. I saw the impact of changing rain patterns for their agriculture. [Locals] told me how fishing had changed over the years and how sea level was rising. They were very aware of all of this and that really affected me—seeing firsthand how people that have contributed almost nothing to the problem were the ones that were absorbing all the consequences. I knew this was what I wanted to work on.
How did you narrow your focus to climate finance?
Right after my studies in Australia and trip to Fiji, I came back home. I did my thesis on sustainable development, and I had the amazing opportunity to work at SURECO & Partners, a climate finance consulting firm. I moved from Spain to Panama for this. It was great because I started in a very early stage of the firm and I will always be grateful to Jessica, the founder and CEO, because she was the one that believed in me even in the beginning. There I learned much more about climate finance and the Green Climate Fund. I had found my global challenge: I wanted to focus on climate change and specifically on adaptation finance.
“In climate change work, if one wins, we all win. It’s very different from other careers where there’s a zero-sum game. Here, we’re all on the same side.”
Why did you decide to enroll in the Columbia Climate School?
My background is all in social sciences, international relations and global communications, so I wanted to build more solid foundations. At the beginning, I remember I was looking more for environmental and sustainable development programs, but when I saw the Climate School, I knew it was exactly what I wanted. Finding a program focused on climate change that is both STEM-designated that gives me this science background I didn’t have, but at the same time is still focused on climate and society, was a very important balance for me. It wasn’t a difficult choice in the end.
What will you take with you from the program into the future?
I feel like skills can be learned and they’re very important, but I think the most important thing is the people I’ve met. When I came here, I was very focused on dynamics and global climate models, or being able to do a climate risk assessment. And of course, those skills are super important and I’m very glad to have them. But I was very positively surprised by the human quality that I found in this program, both from my professors and my cohort. It is truly amazing to see people from so many different backgrounds all coming together to solve the issue from different perspectives.
Do you know what your plans are for the summer and beyond?
Right now and through the summer, I am volunteering with the United Nations Environmental Program Financial Initiative, with the adaptation team. I’m really enjoying that experience because it is exactly what I’ve been dreaming of—adaptation financing in such an impactful organization.
I know I want to focus on adaptation in the future. Climate finance adaptation can be very niche, but nothing ties me down geographically, which I think is a strength. I’m not chasing a specific title or a specific organization, but I am chasing impact and I’ll follow that wherever it leads.
Do you have any advice for people who want to enter the climate space?
I’m always circling back to community, because creating a community and being part of a community, and not because you want anything from them, is at the core of everything I do. When I got the email about the Campbell Award, it felt incredible, like there was no way that this was happening to me. But it also felt like a beautiful full circle moment. Since I got to Columbia, I have been very invested in getting to know people, doing projects with professors and making plans with the students, and trying to create initiatives. Columbia has given me so much intellectually, personally and professionally, so this feels like a circle of giving back and the community acknowledging that I belong here.
I think the advice I would give to anybody at the Climate School or otherwise is to focus on the people [you are working with]. Create connections because, specifically in climate change work, if one wins, we all win. It’s very different from other careers where there’s this zero-sum game. Here, we’re all on the same side.
