Center for Latin American Studies

Name: Ane Alencar
Degree, Department: PhD, Forest Resources and Conservation
Adviser: Daniel Zarin
Home Country: Brazil
Research Interests: Regional Planning and land use dynamic modeling. My research is focused on the relationship between roads and land use change in determining forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon.

Name: Liliana A. Alencastro
Degree, Department: PhD, Food and Resource Economics
MS, Food and Resource Economics (2004)
Adviser: Sherry Larkin
Home Country: Ecuador
Research Interests: Valuation of ecosystem services, fisheries economics and local management.

Name: Claudia Monzon Alvarado
Degree, Department: PhD, Geography
Adviser: Eric Keys
Home Country: Guatemala
Research Interests: Land use change decision making, linking patterns and processes, environmental history & policy, traditional environmental knowledge.  My research is focused on fire impacts in land use decision making and deforestation in Maya Forest. 

Name: Jennifer Arnold
Degree, Department: PhD - School of Natural Resources & Environment
Adviser: Karen Kainer
Home Country: Karen Kainer
Research Interests: Participatory research, qualitative research methods, rangeland management
Tips: Work on a research topic that you find fascinating and that builds on skills you already have.

Name: Laura Avila
Degree, Department: PhD - Student, SNRE/ Geography
Adviser: Eric Keys
Home Country: Costa Rica
Research Interests: Agroecology, countryside biogeography, farming livelihood systems, land use/land cover change and community based conservation. I study how fragmentation caused by land use change impacts tropical native bee populations and pollination services in an agricultural landscape.

Name: Kelly Biedenweg
Degree, Department: PhD - School of Forest Resources and Conservation
Adviser: Martha Monroe
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: capacity building for environmental conservation, community forestry, learning, communication, behavior change

Name: Christie Browne-Nuñez
Degree, Department: PhD, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Adviser: Susan Jacobson
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Human dimensions of wildlife management, including human-wildlife conflict, understanding and influencing environmental behavior (especially in E. Africa).

Name: Marlene Soriano Candia
Degree, Department: MA - School of Forest Resources and Conservation
Adviser: Karen Kainer
Home Country: Bolivia
Research Interests:The main topics of my interest are forest ecology, natural resource management, and carbon dynamics in tropical forests. I am particularly interested in applying a participatory approach to protect and enhance productivity of Brazil nut-rich forest by linking community-owned forest-lands to carbon sequestration and emission-reduction projects in the Bolivian Amazon.
Tips: I recommend prospective international students to contact a prospective advisor at the university they intend to apply for in advance. Do not be shy by speaking another language; people understand even if you don’t know every word of a sentence. It is part of the process of learning. If you want to meet people from all over the world, come to UF, which is multi-cultural, “rich in experience” and a great place to study.

Name: Hector Castañeda
Degree, Department: PhD, Interdisciplinary Ecology
MS, Interdisciplinary Ecology (2004)
Adviser: Hugh Popenoe
Home Country: El Salvador
Research Interests: Ethnobotany, plant-human interactions, GIS applications for land management.

Name: Willandia Chaves
Degree, Department: MS - School of Natural Resources and Environment
Adviser: Katie Sieving
Home Country: Brazil
Research Interests: Conservation Biology; Ecology and Conservation of Tropical birds and mammals in Latin America; Effects of forest management on wildlife; Wildlife Management.

Name: Rosa Cossio Solano
Degree, Department: PhD, School of Natural Resources and Environment
Adviser: Stephen Perz
Home Country: Peru
Research Interests: The social and ecological context for understanding the implementation of sustainable forest management practices for timber production by colonist and indigenous communities in Madre de Dios, Peruvian Amazon.
Tips: If your research involves working with people (rural communities) it is important to be honest and explain clearly what your research is about from the beginning. Be nice with them and do your best to return information. Do not forget that your research will be built with their direct or indirect participation. Enjoy your time in the field!

Name: Hillary Del Campo
Degree, Department: PhD, Anthropology
Adviser: Marianne Schmink
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: My research occurs in the Terra do Meio region of Para, Brazil. I am examining attachment to place among traditional people who have endured decades of violence, land conflict, feudal work conditions, and economic and social isolation. Despite these challenges, many families have decided to remain in the region. I am using qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the material and symbolic dimensions of their attachment to this region.
Tips: Talk to as many professors as you can about your research ideas early on to get your ideas refined. Get a proposal done as soon as possible and get feedback on it--the more the better!

Name: Maria DiGiano
Degree, Department: PhD, School of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Anthropology
Adviser: Marianne Schmink
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: I am conducting my dissertation research in the Yucatan region of Mexico. I am interested in land tenure, and in the relationship between property rights systems, perceptions of rights and resources and land use/land cover change. More broadly, I am interested in multi-disciplinary research and education and in how to integrate research with applied development and conservation work.
Tips: My advice to new students would be to really take advantage of the intellectual community that TCD provides, by participating in seminars and workshops and just by getting to know one another. Students and faculty bring a wealth of applied experience to the program, that is what makes it so unique and amazing!

Name: Amy Duchelle
Degree, Department: PhD, Forest Resources and Conservation
Adviser: Karen Kainer
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Measuring the resilience of Brazil nut production to landscape-level change in the Western Amazon.  My research uses socio-economic, ecological and spatial research methods to explore the changing role of this important non-timber forest product for communities in the tri-national frontier region of Brazil, Bolivia and Peru.
Tips: Participate in the TCD experience!  Find a research topic that you are passionate about, think big, and keep your work manageable.  Enjoy the fabulous community of students and faculty that we are lucky to be a part of – these relationships will last well beyond UF.

Name: Ana Alice Eleuterio
Degree, Department: PhD - Botany
Adviser: Francis E. Putz
Home Country: Brazil
Research Interests:My research, in a tropical forest managed for timber extraction in the Brazilian Amazon, focuses on the effects of forest management on tree health.

Name: David Elliott
Degree, Department: MS, School of Natural Resources and Environment
Adviser: Brian Child
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Community-based natural resource management, conservation payments and incentives, environmental governance, and adaptive management.

Name: Jean-Gael "JG" Emptaz-Collomb
Degree, Department: PhD, School of Natural Resources and Environment
Adviser: Dr. Janaki Alavalapati (School of Forest Resources and Conservation)
Home Country: France
Research Interests: I am interested in many human dimensions aspects of merging conservation and development in tropical countries. My specific research focuses on whether community based ecotourism really impacts the wellbeing of rural residents and how such projects are governed, as well as their support of conservation efforts in Namibia and Botswana.  Research Title: Linking Tourism, Well-Being and Conservation in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area

Name: Santiago Espinosa
Degree, Department: PhD, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Adviser: Lyn Branch
Home Country: Ecuador
Research Interests: Large carnivore ecology and conservation, protected areas management, human-wildlife interactions, landscape ecology.
Tips: The TCD program is an ideal place to learn from others experiences, as it attracts people from many disciplines and from all over the world. The chances that you will hear different opinions about a single issue are very high. Sometimes you will agree and sometimes you will disagree, but come with your mind open and try to understand different points of view and learn from them. In doing so, you will be able to take more from your experience at UF-TCD.  And for the non-native English speakers… my best advice is that you try to live with a native English speaker from day 1. Otherwise, your learning will be much harder… my own experience…

Name: Simone Ferreira de Athayde
Degree, Department: PhD, SNRE
Adviser: Marianne Schmink
Home Country: Brazil
Research Interests:Ethnoecology, Amazonian indigenous peoples and conservation, indigenous grassroots movements, indigenous peoples' territoriality and ethnicity issues, ethnobotany, indigenous knowledge systems, indigenous material culture (basketry and textiles), biocultural (reconciling cultural and environmental) conservation. Tips: Come prepared to deal with bureaucracy...it is good to have all your documents and personal info typed and saved in your computer, so you don't
need to do it 10 times. Also, it is recommended that you bring some extra money to survive here until you get paid, which can take longer than you wish. Be prepared to be interviewed by a homeland security officer when you enter in the US...have an emergency phone handy in case you need....but don't give up, the University and the TCD program are great, so just be a
little patient in the beginning!

Name: John Fort
Degree: MSc
Department: SNRE
Advisor: Martha Monroe
Home Country: USA
Research interests: Sustainable Livelihoods in Southern Malawi

Name: Lucas Fortini
Degree, Department: PhD - School of Forest Resources and Conservation
Adviser: Daniel Zarin
Home Country: Brazil
Research Interests: Tropical forest ecology and management, tidal floodplain forests, secondary forests, population and community ecology and modeling, applied ecology
Tips: Always have your fieldwork documents in the local language: people will invariably want to see what you are writing on and ask you questions about it. Local radio broadcasters often know quite a lot about their community and may be a very useful resource when arriving at a new location...

Name: David Garcia
Degree, Department: MA/PhD, Anthropology
Adviser: Dr. Allan Burns
Home Country: Guatemala
Research Interests: My research focuses on the formation of a new territory as migrant Q'eqchi'-Maya farmers consolidate their communities in northern Guatemala.  I am also interested in the process of collective decision making regarding common property resources.
Tips: An acceptance letter and funding might not be obtained in the same moment, therefore, be patient and remember you always have the choice to defer your enrollment for one year, but talk with your department as much as you need.  Sometimes making a phonecall is worth more than 10 emails.  For Latin American students, look for funding accessible from your country and be involved with institutions that can support your candidature in case you need it.

Name: Katy Garland
Degree, Department: PhD, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Adviser: Dr. Ray Carthy (Wildlife) and Dr. Charles Wood (Sociology and Latin American Studies)
Home Country: USA
Research Country: Nicaragua
Research Interests: A Taste for Turtles: Consumptive Use of Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Caribbean Nicaragua.  Sea turtle conservation and biology, human dimensions of wildlife conservation and natural resource management, adaptive management, community-based conservation, Latin America (conservation in developing countries), environmental leadership, sustainable use of natural resources

Name: Raissa Guerra
Degree, Department: PhD - Student at SNRE (TCD Concentration)
Adviser: Marianne Schmink
Home Country: Brasil
Research Interests: Brazilian Amazon, Payments for Environmental Services, Bolsa Floresta
Tips: Take courses on design and methods since the first semester in order to start thinking about the design of your research

Name: Xavier Haro-C.
Degree, Department:  Ph.D, Department of Biology
Adviser: Francis E. Putz
Home Country:  Ecuador
Research Interests:  Ecology of tropical forests and biodiversity conservation. My specific research ideas are still in formulation, but I am working to conduct my field studies in the tropics, most probably in Ecuador. I am interested in addressing the question of how tropical forests can be successfully preserved in ways that are environmentally sound, but also socially feasible, economically reasonable, and politically expedient.

Name: Jeffrey Hoelle
Degree: Ph.D
Department: Anthropology
Advisor: Marianne Schmink
Home Country: Texas
Research Interest: The cultural meanings and practices associated with cattle raising in Brazil and Amazonia; political and economic factors involved in Amazonian cattle expansion

Name: Bothepha B. Kgabung
Degree, Department: PhD - Interdisciplinary Ecology, SNRE
Adviser: Brian Child
Home Country: Botswana
Research Interests: The Impacts of the Evolution and Uses of Chobe National Park (more specifically of Elephants and their Management)on Rural Livelihoods and Conservation attitudes and Behavior. The study area is Chobe District in Northern Botswana.
Tips: 'Tips' is my nickname, so when you say tips I'll answer.

Name: Christie Klimas
Degree, Department: PhD, Forest Resources and Conservation
Adviser: Karen Kainer
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Use of population viability analysis as a tool to address basic ecological questions concerning the ecological and economic trade-offs between management strategies that focus on NTFPs vs. those that focus on timber. Carapa guianensis, deforestation, ecology.
Tips: Choose a research topic that you are passionate about. Use that passion to apply early and often for funding to complete the project. Use the professors and students at UF; they are a valuable research. Accept criticism knowing that it will help strengthen your project and take breaks. I highly recommend playing frisbee, learning capoeira or doing Brazilian dance (5 stars for Juliana Azoubel's classes)!

Name: Laura Kowler
Degree, Department:MS -  Interdisciplinary Ecology - SNRE
Adviser:Mickie Swisher
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: I’m interested in local governance mechanisms in forest-based communities and organizations as related to sustainable forest management. Through my research in the Peruvian Amazon, I gained a greater understanding of how organizational and institutional structures have the great potential to influence forest management goals.
Tips: The TCD program is a warm and welcoming community in which to share and discover new ideas with a very diverse group of individuals.  I advocate participating in Tropilunch and the Conservation & Development Forum to immerse yourself in topics, issues, and experiences as introduced by fellow colleagues, faculty, and visitors. As for research tips, I recommend feeling comfortable with your research idea sooner than later (especially at the Master’s level) so you can put time into a strong design and methodology. Be creative and use the TCD community as a resource.

Name: Flavia Leite
Degree, Department: PhD, Sociology
Adviser: Stephen Perz
Home Country: Brasil
Research Interests: Development and conservation in the Amazon. Relationship between government, communities and NGOs. Community-based initiatives. Public policy.

Name: Christine Lucas
Degree, Department: PhD, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Adviser: Emilio Bruna
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: I am studying the impacts of flooding and land-use history on the succession of flooded forests in the Eastern Amazon. I am interested in the interactive effects of annual floods and livestock activity on the establishment, growth, and survivorship of seedlings in the understory of secondary forests.
Tips: Contact other students at UF that share similar interests or work with your potential adviser. The student body is one of the greatest assets of the UF graduate community, and they have a wealth of knowledge and experience that is readily available and extremely helpful for making major decisions about schools, classes, and advisers.

Name: Vincent de Paul Medjibe
Degree, Department: PhD - School of Natural Resources and Environment, Botany
Adviser: Francis E. (Jack) Putz
Home Country: Central African Republic
Research Interests: Sustainable management of forest resources in Central Africa with case study of the carbon consequences of forest management in the Congo Basin.

Name: Ricardo Mello
Degree, Department: MS, Latin American Studies
Adviser: Peter Hildebrand
Home Country: Brasil
Research Interests: I am studying fire use and control by smallholders in eastern Amazon. I am interested in evaluate the effects of green house emission politics in fire use regimes.

Name: Rafael Mendoza
Degree, Department: PhD, Anthropology
Adviser: Gerald Murray
Home Country: Peru
Research Interests: Sustainable management of natural resources, Amazonian history, indigenous and migrants in the upper Peruvian Amazon, language extinction, and Quechua.
Tips: Para los que vienen de latinoamerica, primero traten de aprender todo el ingles que puedan en sus países, especialmente gramática, porque luego aquí si tienen ya una buena base van a mejorar con bastante rapidez. Lo segundo, asi su ingles no sea muy bueno, apliquen. Tercero y ultimo, cuando apliquen muestren que tienen una propuesta clara de lo que quieren hacer, aun cuando no sea muy cierto. 

Name: Danny Pinedo
Degree, Department: MA - Anthropology
Adviser: Marianne Schmink
Home Country: Perul
Research Interests: Community-based natural resource management, the commons, conservation, sustainable development, political ecology, indigenous people, traditional ecological knowledge, the Amazon.
Tips: For those who are interested in studying issues of conservation and development in the tropics with a socioecological approach, the TCD is the place. Once at the TCD, take advantage of the extensive resources and opportunities it offers: an interdisciplinary environment, an experienced faculty, students with different backgrounds or similar research interests, interesting and useful classes, seminars and workshops, funding, etc. While at UF, try to build a social network; this will be critical for a successful professional career in the future.

Name: Tim Podkul
Degree, Department: PhD - Anthropology
Adviser: Christopher McCarty
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Anthropology of development, adaptive water management, social networks and social capital.  My research takes a political ecology approach to understanding the relationship between community conflict and cooperation in the water scarce regions of the Bolivian Andes.  Specifically, I will investigate how gender relations, political organization, and social structure are related to.
Tips: Engage yourself in working groups, reading clubs, etc. outside of the classroom.  These spaces can be a goldmine for interdisciplinary information exchange on both theories and methods.

Name: Rafael Rojas
Degree, Department: PhD, Interdisciplinary Ecology
MA, Latin American Studies (2004)
Adviser: Stephen Perz
Home Country: Peru
Research Interests: Agricultural land use change in Madre de Dios, Peru.

Name: Laura Schreeg
Degree, Department: PhD, SNRE and Botany
Adviser: Michelle Mack
Home Country: US
Research Interests: I'm interested in how nutrients cycle in mature forest and how these cycles change with land conversion. Land productivity often decreases when forests are replaced with agricultural and pasture in the lowland wet tropics. For my dissertation I'm investigating how native vegetation accesses and uses nutrients.  Understanding the mechanisms native vegetation uses to maintain high productivity with low nutrient availability can provide clues for improving productivity and sustainability of managed systems.

Name: Lisa Seales
Degree, Department: PhD, School of Natural Resources and Environment
Adviser: Taylof Stein and Martha Monroe
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Evaluating the efficacy of capacity building, collaborative, and participatory programs with regard to community-based natural resource management.

Name: Claudia Segovia-Salcedo
Degree: PhD
Department:  Biology
Advisor: Pam Soltis
Research Interest: Conservation Genetics, Andean Plants, Endemism and Threatened species conservation.

Name: Alexander Shenkin
Degree, Department: PhD, Interdisciplinary Ecology
Adviser: Grenville Barnes and Jack Putz
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Land use decision-making and change, landscape ecology, environmental governance and modeling in Bolivia, Peru and Panama.

Name: Gabriela Stocks
Degree, Department: PhD, Anthropology
Adviser: Anthony Oliver-Smith
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Water resource management, anthropology of development, political ecology. My dissertation research will focus on the long-term effects of community displacement and resettlement as a consequence of the construction of the Arenal Dam in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
Tips: Talk to everyone you can about your research interests. You never know where a great idea for a project will come from.

Name: Erica Van Etten
Degree, Department: MS, Interdisciplinary Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment, Botany
Adviser: Kaoru Kitajima
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Direct seeding of large-seeded tropical forest trees in abandoned agricultural fields and secondary forests. I work in the Ecuadorian Amazon with Shuar communities interested in reforestation of trees of cultural, ecological and economical importance.
Tips: Before applying to UF make contact with potential advisors that share your interests. If possible, visit campus to meet with professors and talk with graduate students. In your first semester, read thesises of your advisor's former students and proposals of current grad students to develop your research ideas. TCD seminars are great to learn about the research questions being pursued by your fellow Masters and PhD students.

Name: Deb Wojcik
Degree, Department: PhD, Forest Resources and Conservation
Adviser: Martah Monroe
Home Country: USA
Research Interests: Human dimensions of environmental management, social learning and network analysis, community-based natural resource management, capacity building, adaptive management.
Tips: Your fellow students are your best resources; ask them for advice early and often about courses and professors who may be interested in your work. Take full advantage of the incredible UF experience - build relationships and learn as much as you can from the many amazing students and faculty across campus.

Name: Galo Zapata-Rios
Degree, Department: Ph.D, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Adviser: Lyn Branch
Home Country: Ecuador
Research Interests: Ecology and conservation of Neotropical mammals, wildlife management, landscape ecology, ethnozoology.

Name: Vivian Zeidemann
Degree, Department: PhD - School of Natural Resources and Environment - SNRE
Adviser: Karen Kainer
Home Country: Brazil
Research Interests: The role of institutional arrangements on Brazil nut sustainable use and management in Riozinho do Anfrísio Extractive Reserve, Amazon, Brazil.