Katherine Elizabeth Espín Gómez (born 15 November 1992 in

La Troncal La Troncal is the seat of La Troncal Canton in the Cañar Province, Ecuador. The region that would become this significant town, was sparsely populated by farmers until the 1950s. The population began to grow in the 1950s, when migrants from Az ...

) is an Ecuadorian model,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

who held the Miss Earth Ecuador 2016. She is best known as the winner of the

Miss Earth 2016 Miss Earth 2016, the 16th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, with the theme "Empowered to make a Change", was held on October 29, 2016, at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. 83 contestants from all over the world competed ...

pageant, making her the second

Miss Earth Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is one of t ...

winner from Ecuador next to

Olga Álava Olga Mercedes Álava Vargas (born 14 February 1988) is an Ecuadorian model, social, lifestyle entrepreneur, environmentalist and beauty queen. She became the first delegate from Ecuador to win the Miss Earth pageant. Biography Álava, born on ...

who won the crown in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. She is also the National Director of Miss Earth Ecuador pageant at present.

Biography

Early life

Espín was born in

in the

Cañar Province Cañar () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province in Ecuador. The capital is Azogues. At the time of census 2010 the province had a population of 225,184. It contains the 16th-century ruins of Ingapirca, the best-known Inca settlement in Ecuador an ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

with her parents, Freddy Espín and Orsa Gómez. As published in Miss Earth's official website, Espin described her childhood days as the following:

Pageantry

Prior to competing in the Miss Earth pageant, Espin represented Ecuador but did not win at the

Reinado Internacional del Café 2013 Reinado Internacional del Café 2013, was held in Manizales, Colombia, on January 12, 2013. 23 beauty queens competed for the title. The winner was Ivanna Vale, from Venezuela. Results Placements Special awards Official exhibits Crossovers ...

, but she emerged first runner in the Miss Bikini Universe 2015.

Miss Earth 2016

Espin represented Ecuador in Miss Earth 2016 and competed with 82 other delegates from around the world. During the pre-pageant events, she won gold medal at the press presentation as part of the "Darling of the Press" award and tied up with the Philippines' bet,

Imelda Schweighart Imelda Bautista Schweighart, better known by her former screen name Imee Hart (born 29 May 1995) is a Filipino-German model, singer-songwriter, composer, actress beauty queen who was crowned Miss Philippines Earth 2016 on 11 June 2016, served ...

. As the pre-pageant activities continued, she garnered more medals: gold medals for the resort's wear and long gown competitions; silver medals for the swimsuit competition; bronze medal for the national costume competition. Aside from getting several medals, Espin was able to get awards from various sponsors as well. At the end of the pageant, Espin won Miss Earth 2016. In an interview with the media, she stated that she had been wanting to be Miss Earth since she was 16 years old and she further stated that to reporters, "''There was an Ecuadorian named Olga Alava, howon the pageant, and I remembered that when I saw her, I saw myself winning and I'm making my dream come true''."

Miss Earth reign

Espin returned to Ecuador after winning Miss Earth after nearly two months of traveling in the Philippines promoting

environmental awareness Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...

, media appearances including guesting in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She arrived on December 7, 2016 at the

José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional José Joaquín de Olmedo; ) is an international airport serving Guayaquil, the capital of the Guayas Province and the second most populous city in Ecuador. I ...

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

and a press conference was held for her victory in Miss Earth including a motorcade from the airport to her hometown

and received with placards with her name, cheers and shouts from the balconies and in the streets on her triumph. Espin and Miss Earth Air 2016 Michelle Gomez travelled to Reunion Island for the coronation of Miss Earth Reunion 2017, and conducted environmental campaign at the Charles Cros -Mont Ver Les Hauts School and led tree planting activity with the students, and visited

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

spots and toured the island's electric car company,

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

. In April 2017, Espin flew to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

for the Earth Day 2017 and for the crowning of Miss Earth Angola 2017 and also graced a tree planting activity together with Fundacao Verde with the support of the Government of Angola and the Ministerio do Ambiente. On the same month, Espin graced the launch of Miss Earth Ghana Organization's "''Trash in Bin Campaign''" in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

with Miss Earth Ghana 2016 Deborah Eyram Dodor and promoted proper waste disposal and segregation. Espin graced the red carpet at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the

Philippine President The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

at the Batasang Pambansa Complex on July 24, 2017 and she was joined by Isabela vice governor Tonypet Albano. In July 2017, Espin travelled in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

as an honorary member along with thirty-three delegates from the League of Vice Governors of the Philippines to attend the foreign study "''Driving Excellence in Governance''" at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School of ...

(NUS-LKYSPP), which is the academic phase project funded under the General Appropriations Act, was overseen by the Development Academy of the Philippines. She travelled to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

in August 2017 to attend the Miss Earth Puerto Rico 2017 where she crowned Karla Victoria Aponte . In September 2017, she went to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and graced the activities of the contest, Nuestra Belleza Chile 2017 (Miss Earth Chile 2017) and served as the chairwoman of the board of judges of the pageant which was won by Sofía Manzur. She became an Ecotourism Ambassador in the Philippines, an honorary member in the League of Vice Governors in Asia, worked with the Liter of Light Foundation globally, and received the national award of "Honorable Citizen" in Ecuador for her accomplishments as an advocate of

environmental preservation Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health se ...

. During her reign, she has traveled to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, Reunion Island,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and numerous trips around the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

References

External links

*
Miss Earth Ecuador 2016 Eco-Beauty Video

Katherine Espin at Miss Earth Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espin, Katherine 1992 births Living people Miss World Ecuador Miss Earth 2016 contestants Ecuadorian beauty pageant winners Ecuadorian female models Ecuadorian people of Spanish descent People from La Troncal Canton Ecuadorian emigrants to the United States Miss Earth winners 21st-century Ecuadorian women