Florencia Quesada Avendaño is Associate Professor in Latin American Studies, Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki. Trained as a historian her research interests include history, sustainable tourism and urban studies. Currently, she is writing a monograph about the urban and cultural transformation of Guatemala City between 1880 and 1930.

She earned her PhD in Latin American Studies from the UH, a Diplome D'Etudes Approffondies in history from Université Paris 1-Sorbonne and a master’s degree in history from the University of Costa Rica. She has carried out primary research in Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica, and in archives in France, Spain, and the United States.

Formerly, she was a research fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies (UH) (2016-2019) and university researcher at Global Development Studies in various projects such as FCITIES: Societal security, environmental vulnerability and redistributive justice in fragile cities of the global South.

Before coming to Finland from Costa Rica, she was a researcher at Centro de Investigaciones Históricas de América Central (CIHAC) at the University of Costa Rica, and at the Department of Education of the Central Bank Museums.

Quesada has published on Central American urban cultural history, planning and sustainable tourism. Her book about the urban modernization in San José, Costa Rica received the 2011 Cleto González Víquez Award from the Academy of Geography and History of Costa Rica.