Research Associate Dr. Nicolás Zanetta-Colombo
Nicolás Camilo Zanetta Colombo is a geographer and joined the South Asia Institute in 2022, committed to environmental justice through an interdisciplinary approach that bridges environmental health, geochemistry, community-based monitoring, and science outreach. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Geography from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and completed his PhD in November 2024. His current work integrates spatial analysis, toxicology, and critical geography to better understand the impacts of environmental pollution on human health in mining communities. Through this research, he aims to make visible extractive industries' often-overlooked health consequences and support pathways toward more just and sustainable futures.
Research Topics
In his research, Nicolás Zanetta-Colombo examines how pollution and extractive industries contribute to health disparities, particularly among vulnerable and marginalized populations. He has focused on the Atacama Desert for over a decade, building long-term collaborations with Indigenous and urban communities affected by mining-related contamination. Comparative projects in Central America and South Africa have further shaped his global perspective on socio-environmental challenges.
Environmental justice
Health disparities
Geochemistry
Environmental monitoring
Community involvement
Science Outreach
Selected Publications
Zanetta-Colombo NC (2025): Sharing benefits of research is key to effective science communication. Nature, 638, 891. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00586-2.
Zanetta-Colombo NC, Manzano CA, Brombierstäudl D, Fleming ZL, Gayo EM, Rubinos DA, Valdés J, Prieto M & Nüsser M (2024): Blowin’ in the wind: Mapping the dispersion of metal(loid)s from Atacama mining. GeoHealth, 8, e2024GH001078..
Zanetta-Colombo NC, Scharnweber T, Christie DA, Manzano CA, Blersch M, Gayo EM, Muñoz AA, Fleming ZL & Nüsser M (2024): When another one bites the dust: Environmental impact of global copper demand on local communities in the Atacama mining hotspot as registered by tree rings. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 920, 170954, ISSN 0048-9697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170954.
Zanetta-Colombo NC, Fleming ZL, Gayo EM, Manzano CA, Panagi C, Valdés J & Siegmund A (2022): Impact of mining on the metal content of dust in indigenous villages of northern Chile. Environment International, Volume 169, 107490, ISSN 0160-4120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107490.
Vargas-Machuca BD, Zanetta-Colombo NC, De Pol-Holz R & Latorre C (2021): Variations in local heavy metal concentrations over the last 16,000 years in the central Atacama Desert (22°S) measured in rodent middens. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 775, 145849, ISSN 0048-9697, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145849.
Teaching
Political Ecology
Critical Physical Geography
Geographies of Extraction
Research Associate
Department of Geography
South Asia Institute
Universität Heidelberg
Voßstraße 2, Building 4130
D-69115 Heidelberg
Room: 130.03.14
Tel: +49 6221 54-15247
Email: nicolas.zanetta@uni-heidelberg.de