About
My work concerns the ways in which people understand, interact with, and form attachments to place in biologically diverse regions. I have over a decade of experience working in the neotropics, primarily in Peru and Brazil, among traditional, peasant, and indigenous populations in and around protected areas. I have also worked in the United States on urban environmentalism projects with ethnic white, African American and Latino populations.
My doctoral research explored the various dimensions of place attachment among riverine (non-indigenous) populations. This research confirmed patterns I had observed, but not rigorously tested: that place-making occurs during people’s practices (in this case, forest and riverine extractive activities), which are monetary and symbolic. Such activities are central to the formation of place-based identity.
This is of relevance to policymakers, environmentalists, and human rights advocates seeking the delicate balance between the conservation of natural resources, development, and land rights for the rural poor, particularly in the current global context of climate change and emissions reductions from deforestation and land degradation (REDD).
