Tropical Conservation and Development (TCD)
The Tropical Conservation and Development (TCD) Specialization in the MALAS program is designed to train students for careers in conservation and development research and practice by providing interdisciplinary knowledge and technical skills related to tropical conservation and development.
Requirements
MALAS students must complete 30 credit hours of approved courses, write a thesis on a topic related to the specialization, and demonstrate intermediate-high proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese or Haitian Creole.
The course requirements are distributed as follows:
- 6 hours of gateway seminars (preferably in the first semester):
LAS 6220 Issues and Perspectives in Latin American Studies
LAS 6292/3 Research Design and Methods in Latin American Studies
- 15 hours of courses in the specialization (see below)
- 9 hours of courses with Latin American content outside the specialization, selected in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator, Dr. Richmond Brown
In addition, students must register for LAS 6971, Master’s Research, in the semester of graduation—at least 3 credit hours for fall or spring, or 2 credit hours for summer.
Specialization Requirements
Required Interdisciplinary Core Courses (9 credit hours)
TCD offers interdisciplinary core courses in three different categories: tropical conservation and development concepts, conservation and development skills, and research methods. An additional core course, Tropical Conservation and Development Practicum, offers academic credit for professional experience outside the classroom.
MALAS students must take LAS 6290 (or the equivalent) and LAS 6291 plus one additional core course. This additional course may be any of the following: LAS 6290, LAS 6291, LAS 6292, or LAS 6905 (Tropical Conservation and Development Practicum).
Tropical Conservation and Development Concepts
LAS 6290 The Amazon
LAS 6290/FOR 6934 Community Forest Management
LAS 6290/GEO 6938 Land Use/Land Cover Change
LAS 6290/GEO 6375 Land Change Seminar
Conservation and Development Skills
LAS 6291 Conflict and Collaboration Management
LAS 6291 Facilitation Skills for Adaptive Management
LAS 6291 Policy Reform for Conservation and Sustainable Development
LAS 6291 Conservation Entrepreneurship
Research Methods
LAS 6292/FOR 6934 Field Skills for Forest Conservation
TCD Practicum
LAS 6905 Tropical Conservation and Development Practicum
Tropical Ecology Courses (3 credit hours)
MALAS students take three credit hours from the following list:
AGR 5511 Crop Ecology
AGR 5277c Tropical Crop Production
AGR 6233c Tropical Pasture and Forage Science
ALS 5136 Agricultural Ecology Principles and Applications
BOT 5685 Tropical Botany
BOT 6935 Ecology and Natural History of the Tropics
BOT 6935 Principles of Ecosystem Ecology
BOT 6935 Tropical Ecology
BOT 6951/PCB 6347c Tropical Biology (8 credits; off‐campus OTS course)
EES 5305 Ecological and General Systems
FAS 6337c Fish Population Dynamics (4 credits)
FNR 5335 Agroforestry
FOR 6170 Tropical Forestry
PCB 5046 Advanced Ecology
PCB 6356c Ecosystems of the Tropics
PCB 6447c Community Ecology
SOS 5050 Soils for Environmental Professionals
SOS 5132 Tropical Soils Management
WIS 5555 Conservation Biology
WIS 6452 Wildlife Ecology
WIS 6453 Wildlife and Agriculture
WIS 6464 Wildlife Habitat Analysis
WIS 6468c Pattern and Process in Landscape Ecology
WIS 6934 Introduction to Tropical Ecology and Conservation
Social Science Courses (3 credit hours)
MALAS students must take three credit hours from the following list:
AEB 5167 Economic Analysis in Small Farm Livelihood Systems
AEB 6453 Natural Resource Economics
AEB 6483 Seminar in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
AEB 6645 Economic Development and Agriculture
AEB 6933 Ecological Economics
AEE 5073 Ag Resources, People, Environment
AEE 6316 International Extension
AFS 6905 Migration and Development
ANG 5266 Economic Anthropology
ANG 5303 Women and Development
ANG 5354 Anthropology of Modern Africa
ANG 5701 Applied Anthropology
ANG 5702 Anthropology and Development
ANG 6261 Anthro GIS and Human Environment
ANG 6303 Gender and International Development
ANG 6930 Ethnobotany
ANG 6930 Historical Ecology
ANG 5256 Rural Peoples in the Modern World
CPO 6036 Politics of Developing Societies
CPO 6077 Comparative Social Movements
ENV 6932 Global Environment and Policies
FOR 5615 Forest Conservation and Management Issues and Policy
FOR 6934 Conservation Behavior
FOR 6934 Education for Sustainability
FYC 6230 Theory in Community Development
GEA 6419 Geography of Latin America
GEA 6466 Geography of Amazonia
GEO 5809 Geography of World Agriculture
GEO 6118 Contemporary Geographic Thought
GEO 6931 Seminar on Cultural and Political Ecology
GEO 6938 Cultural and Political Ecology
GEO 6938 Economics for Conservation
GEO 6938 Food and Agriculture in Africa
GEO 6938 Seminar on Climate Change
INR 6039 International Political Economy
INR 6352 International Environmental Relations
LAH 5527 Andean Nations
LAH 5934 History of Amazonia
LAS 6938 Cuban Agriculture
LEI 5255 Outdoor Recreation and Park Management
LEI 6834 Ecotourism
PAD 6865 Development Administration
POL 6933 Peasants
POS 6933 Policy of Development
POS 6933 Water Politics
PUP 6008 Public Policy Analysis
PUP 6015 Comparative Policy Analysis
PUR 6934 Communication for Development and Social Change
REL 5195 Religion, Ethics and Nature
REL 5338 Religions and Nature in South Asia
REL 5937 Religion and Nature in Latin America
REL 5937 Religion Nature and Society
REL 6037 Nature in Western Religions
REL 6107 Core Seminar Religion and Nature
REL 6125 Religion and Politics in the Americas
REL 6181 Ethics and Natural Sciences
REL 6183 Religion and Environmental Ethics
REL 6358 Native Religions of the Americas
REL 6387 Religions in Latin America
SUR 6427 Land Tenure and Administration
SYA7933 Environmental Governance
SYA 7933 Seminar on Environment and Society
WIS 6578 Human Dimensions of Biological Conservation
WST 6348 Ecofeminism
WST 6935 Gender, Development, and Globalization
Course Substitutions
Course substitutions can only be made with prior approval from the TCD Program. To request a course substitution, send an e-mail message to TCD Academic Advisor, Emilio Bruna, explaining the proposed substitution. Attach an electronic copy of the alternate course syllabus.
Core Faculty
Emilio Bruna (Tropical conservation, Plant population ecology; Brazil)
Jonathan Dain (Professional skills training, Social learning, Conflict management; Brazil)
Karen Kainer (Tropical forest ecology, Community forest management; Brazil)
Marianne Schmink (Tropical conservation & development; Gender & development; Brazil)
J Richard Stepp (Ecological anthropology, Ethnobotany, Medical anthropology; Mesoamerica
Affiliate Faculty
Agronomy
Ken Boote (retired) (Crop physiology, Crop management strategies; Africa, Spain)
Ken Buhr (Plant breeding, Agronomic education; Africa, Brazil, Nicaragua)
Ken Quesenberry (Forage breeding, Plant genetics, Tissue culture & transformation)
Lynn Sollenberger (Grassland ecology, management & utilization; Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Honduras)
Entomology & Nemotology
Mark Branham (Evolution of insect mating systems; Caribbean, Cuba)
James P. Cuda (Biological pest management; Southeastern US, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay)
Jaret Daniels (Butterflies, Seasonal ecology, Population dynamics, Behavior, Imperiled species recovery)
Christine Miller (Evolutionary ecology, Behavioral ecology, Sexual selection, Phenotypic plasticity, Maternal effects)
Keith Willmott (Butterflies; Ecuador)
Food and Resource Economics
Carmen Diana Deere (Agricultural development, Gender, Land policy, Rural labor markets; Brazil, Andes, Central America, Cuba)
Peter Hildebrand (retired) (Farming systems, Rural livelihood systems, Smallholder farm economics; Colombia, Central America)
Clyde Kiker (retired) (Natural resources, Ecological economics; Caribbean, southern Africa)
Sherry Larkin (Marine resource economics, Fisheries management, Seafood marketing, Bioeconomic modeling; Mexico, Falkland Islands)
Pilar Useche (Development economics, Adoption of GMOs, Inequality in Latin America, Natural Resource Management, Cooperation & behavioral economics; USA, Ecuador, Colombia, Central America)
School of Natural Resources and the Environment
Stephen Humphrey (Sustainable use & natural resource depletion, Socio-ecological systems, Mammal ecology & conservation; Florida)
Ignacio Porzecanski (Biodiversity, Sustainable development)
School of Forest Resources and Conservation
Michael Allen (Fish population dynamics, Aquatic ecology management)
Grenville Barnes (Geomatics, Cadastral systems, Land tenure administration; Andean region, Mexico, Central America, Caribbean, Africa)
Robert Buschbacher (Amazon conservation leadership development, Land reform sustainability, Agroindustry; Brazil, Peru, Andean region)
Matt Cohen (Watershed hydrology, Biogeochemistry, Wetland processes; Florida, Africa, Brazil)
Wendell Cropper (Biological process modeling; Florida)
Mary Duryea (Reforestation, Urban forestry, Tree physiology)
Francisco Escobedo (Urban & community forest management planning, Urbanization’s effects on forests; Mexico, Chile, western US)
Karl Havens (Applied limnology, Plankton, Lake ecology; Brazil, Florida)
Shibu Jose (Production ecology, Ecophysiology, Restoration ecology, Invasive plant ecology & management; Florida)
Martha Monroe (Environmental education, Conservation behavior, Human dimensions of wildlife-urban interface issues; southern US)
Debra Murie (Fisheries, Trophic ecology, Fish ecology; Gulf of Mexico)
P.K. Nair (Biophysical aspects of agroforestry systems, Subtropical agroforestry)
Christina Staudhammer (Forest biometrics, Forest conservation & management, Tropical & urban forestry; Florida)
Taylor Stein (Ecotourism, Economic & non-economic benefits of natural landscapes; Florida, Costa Rica)
Tim White (Forest genetics, Biometrics, International forest conservation; Southern Cone, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Africa)
Daniel Zarin (Forest ecology, Natural resource management, Environmental policy, Amazon conservation leadership development; Brazil)
Plant Medicine
Robert McGovern (Biological control, Host resistance, Soil solarization, Chemical control; Florida)
Soil and Water Science
Nicholas Comerford (Modeling soil nutrient bioavailability, Soil/root interactions, Soil P chemistry, Tropical forest soils, Forested wetlands; Brazil, Florida)
Willie Harris (Soil mineralogy, soil quality/ecosystem services, Soil/landscape analysis, Nutrient management, Pesticides, Wastes; Florida)
Peter Nkedi-Kizza (Sol physics & hydrology, Nutrient management, Pesticides, Wastes; Florida, Uganda, Sub-Saharan Africa)
Andy Ogram (Soil microbiology, Remediation of contaminated soils, waters & aquifers, Soil quality/ecosystem services, Wetlands & aquatic systems; Florida)
Jerry Sartain (Soil fertility & turfgrass nutrition, Management of nutrient, pesticides & wastes; El Salvador, Central America, Dominican Republic)
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Michael Bannister (Subtropical agroforestry, Agroforestry development projects; Central America, Caribbean, Haiti)
Lyn Branch (Conservation biology, Landscape ecology, Behavioral ecology, Conservation & development; Argentina, South America)
Emilio Bruna (Tropical conservation, Plant ecology, Demographic modelling, Plant-animal interactions, Mutualisms)
Peter Frederick (Wetlands ecology & conservation, Avian behavior; Florida, Brazil, Central America, Botswana)
John Hayes (Forest management’s influence on wildlife, Bat ecology & conservation, Habitat ecology)
Susan Jacobson (Environmental communications, Human dimensions of wildlife conservation; Ecuador, Central America, Brazil, Africa, Asia, Florida)
Katie Sieving (Avian community, Landscape ecology; Florida, Brazil, Chile, Sumatra)
Melvin Sunquist (Ecology & behavior & conservation of mammalian carnivores, Natural history; Venezuela, Chile, Mexico, Asia, US)
George Tanner (retired) (Wildlife habitat management, Restoration ecology; Florida, Argentina, Bolivia)
Anthropology
H. Russell Bernard (retired) (Anthropological methods, Literacy; Mexico)
Steven Brandt (Hunter-gatherer ecology, Food production, Ethnoarchaeology; Africa)
Allan Burns (Applied anthropology, Medical anthropology, Language & culture, Immigration; Mexico, Central America, US)
Brenda Chalfin (Economic anthropology, Political economy, State processes, Globalization; Africa)
Michael Heckenberger (Complexity & complex societies, Archaeology & history; Brazil)
Michael Moseley (Settlement patterns, Early agricultural economies, Preindustrial urbanism, Pre-hispanic irrigation, Spanish contact settlements, GIS/remote sensing, Climatology & tectonics; Andes, Caribbean, Florida)
Gerald Murray (Applied anthropology, Anthropology of religion, Linguistics, Agroforestry; Caribbean, Israel & Palestine)
Augusto Oyuela-Caycedo (Historical ecology, Ecology of religion, Shamanism, History of ethnographic & archaeological research on the Andes & Amazonia; Colombia, Brazil, Peru)
Anthony Oliver-Smith (retired) (Displaced people, Disasters, Involuntary resettlement; Peru, Honduras, India, Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico, Japan, US)
Anita Spring (Cultural, applied & medical anthropology, International agricultural development; Food security; Entrepreneurship, Micro-enterprises; Women in development; Environment & resource management; Africa, India, Caribbean, Chile)
Biology
Karen Bjorndal (Sea turtle biology, Comparative nutritional ecology of herbivores; Caribbean)
Alan Bolten (Sea turtle biology with emphasis on the early pelagic stage, Migratory patterns &demography; Caribbean)
Jack Ewel (retired) (Tropical ecology, Sustainable agriculture & agroforestry; Haiti, Peru, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Pacific islands)
Robert Holt (Theoretical ecology, Conservation biology)
Kaoru Kitajima (Plant functional ecology, Tropical forests)
Douglas Levey (Frugivory, Seed dispersal, Tropical ecology; Bird migration, Habitat corridors; Bolivia, South America, US)
Michelle Mack (Ecosystem ecology, Climate change, Plant diversity; Siberia, Florida, Costa Rica)
Todd Palmer (Tropical ecology, Community ecology, Plant-animal interaction, Rangelands; East Africa, Western US)
Francis (Jack) Putz (Tropical & north temperate zone forest ecology, Forest community ecology; Indonesia, Asia, Bolivia)
Ted Schurr (Terrestrial ecosystem dynamics, Plant-soil interactions, Global carbon cycle; Amazon, Panama, Hawaii, North America)
Geography
Michael Binford (Long-term effects of climate change on agriculture & the environment, Paleoecology, Land use, GIS in environmental systems; Haiti, Bolivia, Southwest Africa, Southeast Asia)
Brian Child (Protected area management, Natural resource conservation, Community forest management; Africa)
Abe Goldman (Tropical agricultural development, Environment & development, Ethnic conflicts, resources & development; Africa)
Eric Keys (Human-environment geography, Global land use change, Tropical forests, Agricultural development; Mexico, Borderlands)
Julie Silva (Economic geography, Uneven development, Spatial econometrics; Africa)
Nigel Smith (Biodiversity & agricultural policy, Small-scale farmers, Humid tropics; Amazonia)
Jane Southworth (Remote sensing, Climate change, climate variability & modeling, land use change; Honduras, Midwest US)
Geology
Mark Brenner (Limnology, Paleolimnology, Tropical/subtropical lakes, Climate change; Mexico, Guatemala, Florida)
Political Science
Katrina Schwartz (Water politics, Environmental politics; Florida)
Philip Williams (Religion & politics, Democratization, Social movements, Civil-military relations, Transnational migration; Central America, Latinos, Andes)
Religion
David Hackett (Religious history, Sociology of religion; Spirituality & health; North America)
Anna Peterson (Environmental & social ethics, Religion & politics, Latin American religion; El Salvador, Peru, Latinos)
Bron Taylor (Religion & nature, Environmental sustainability & ethics, Global environmentalism)
Manuel Vasquez (Progressive Catholicism, Religious pluralism & transnational migration; Brazil, Latinos)
Sociology
Christine Overdevest (Environmental & natural resources, economic sociology, Institutions of environmental governance; US, Europe)
Stephen Perz (Demography, Environmental sociology, Sociology of development, Roads & forest fragmentation; Brazil)
Charles Wood (Demography, Sociology of development, Socioeconomic determinants of deforestation, Racial inequality; Brazil)
Women’s Studies
Sandra Russo (Agronomy, Development, Environment, Small ruminants, Women’s studies, Ecofeminism, Agroforestry; Africa)
Architecture
Martha Kohen (Architecture, Urban planning; Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador)
Comparative Law
Tom Ankersen (Domestic/international environmental law & policy, Water law, Protection of biological diversity; US, Guatemala)
Environmental Engineering
Mark Brown (Systems ecology, Ecological engineering, Ecological economics, Environmental planning, Environmental policy, Wetlands ecology; Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela)
Tourism, Recreation & Sport Management
Stephen Holland (Water-based activity participation, Ecotourism, Sustainable tourism)
Brijesh Thapa (Ecotourism, Cultural heritage tourism, Impacts of tourism, Protected areas management, Sustainable development; South America, Central America, Caribbean, Mexico)
Urban & Regional Planning
Ilir Bejleri (Urban design, 3D visual urban simulation, GIS)
Kristin Larsen (Community planning, Growth management, Historic preservation, Housing studies)
Richard Schneider (Computer applications relative to crime prevention & planning, GIS to study crime and crash analyses)
Ruth Steiner (Transportation policy & planning, Land use & transportation, Growth management, Environmental impact assessment)
Paul Zwick (Sustainability, Dynamic models, GIS)
Contact Information
319 Grinter Hall
P.O. Box 115530
Gainesville, FL 32611-5530
USA Tel: (352) 392-0375
Fax: (352) 392-7682
Graduate Advisor
Richmond F. Brown
Specialization Coordinator
Emilio Bruna