Prof. Mariano holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), and MPhil in Social Anthropology (with emphasis on Human Ecology), from the University of Bergen, in Norway.

Prof. Mariano has undertaken several social research, consultancies, offering training courses for academic institutions, national and international development programs on topics related to gender dynamics, sexuality, gender-based violence, and forms of violence in public spaces, including trafficking in human organs and body parts.

She has consulted for both national and international institutions including WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN-Women and UNESCO. She has published extensively in national and international peer reviewed journals.

Prof. Mariano is currently an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FLCS) – Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Mozambique