CenTREAD supports visiting scholars to present seminars at UCSC. Here are some of our recent and upcoming activities.

CenTREAD-sponsored seminars at UCSC

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 20 April 2009
12:30-1:30
221 ISB

Dr. Dan Nepstad - Moore Foundation

Land, forests, and climate change: REDD and beyond

An informal disscusion with Dr. Nepstad will follow the seminar from 2:00-3:10 in ISB 455

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 10 Nov 2008
12:30-1:30
221 ISB

Dr. Roger Linington - University of California, Santa Cruz

Better living through chemistry: the Panama ICBG program as a model for integrated conservation, training and neglected disease research

CenTREAD Informal Seminar

Mon, 6 October 2008
3:30-4:30
455 ISB

Tupenyi Mwambama - University of California, Davis

The effects of historical and ongoing landuse on forest recovery: implications for forest restoration in the Eastern Arc Mountains, Tanzania

Environmental Studies Seminar

Tue, 1 April 2008
10:00-1:00
221 ISB

Dr. Anthony Bebbington - Manchester University

Symposium: Regional transformation and global porcess: conpetualizing new forms of extraction in Latin America

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 31 March 2008
12:30-1:40
221 ISB

Dr. Anthony Bebbington - Manchester University

Social movements and the expansion of extractive industries in Latin America: struggles over livelihood, environment, and development

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 10 March 2008
3:30-5:00
101 Nat Sci 2 Annex

Dr. Alicia Castillo - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Social dimensions of tropical dry forest management: the case of the Chamela-Cuixmala region, Jalisco, Mexico

EEB Department Seminar


Wednesday 5 March 12:30-1:30
101 NatSci2 Annex

Dr. Stephen P. Hubbell, Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA

Neutral theory and the dynamics of a neotropical forest

CenTREAD informal seminar


Thursday 6 March 10:00-11:00 a.m.
221 ISB

Dr. Stephen P. Hubbell, Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UCLA

What does Neutral Theory contribute to conservation?

Baobab Lounge, Merrill College

Friday, November 9, 2007

2pm

Yu'cta Musse - Leader and Interlocutor for the Nasa Indigenous Community of Colombia

Plan Colombia, Oil, and the War on "NarcoTerror": Local Perspectives and Alternative Visions from Putumayo, Colombia

A small reception will be held the same day at 7pm RSVP for directions: escobar@ucsc.edu

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 29 October 2007
3:30-5:00
101 Nat Sci 2 Annex

Dr. Russ Greenberg - Head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center

What coffee farms have taught us about tropical bird ecology: habitat selection and trophic ecology

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 1 October 2007
3:30-5:00
101 Nat Sci 2 Annex

Dr. Jose Manuel Fragoso - Environmental Studies, UCSC

Interaction between ecological systems and biodiversity-use practices by indigenous Amazonian indigenous peoples

CenTREAD/Arboretum speaker

Thu 3 May 2006
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Arboretum Horticultural Building

Dr. Lou Jost - Research Associate, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, FL,

Plant endemism in the Andes: challenges for conservation

CenTREAD speaker

Fri 1 December 2006
2:00-3:10 p.m.

Fernando A. Villanea CenTREAD fellow,University of Costa Rica

Conservation genetics in Costa Rica: the molecular analysis of four monkey species

CenTREAD speaker

Mon, 16 October 2006
12:30-1:30

David Morales Hidalgo Fundación Neotrópica, Costa Rica

Importance of spatial position of tree cover in agricultural landscape mosaics and its relation with forest restoration: case study in San Vito, Costa Rica

CenTREAD speaker

Thurs 25 May 2006
12:15-1:30

Dr. Francisco Rosado-May Universidad de Quintana Roo

Current and Future Challenges in Higher Education in Mexico and Central America

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 27 February 2006
3:30-5:00
101 Nat Sci 2 Annex
Dr. Dusti Becker, Program Manager, University of New Mexico - Gallup Zuni Campus

Long-term relationships with local communities help protect forest biodiversity in western Ecuador

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 14 November 2005
3:30-5:00
101 Nat Sci 2 Annex

Dr. Alejandro Velazquez Instituto de Geografía, UNAM, Morelia, México.

Landscape science to enhance collective natural resource management

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 2 May 2005

Dr. Mauricio Pardon Director- Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (Lima, Peru.)

Water and sanitation in sustainable development
 
This talk will provide an overview of the water and sanitation situation and trends in Latin America, the importance of basic sanitation for development and property rights, priorities for action, and the roles of CEPIS and the Pan American Health Organization. Information on CEPIS :
http://www.cepis.ops-oms.org/indexeng.html

Future of the Rainforest lecture & CenTREAD brownbag

Tues, 26 Apr 2005

Mark Ashton, Professor, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

A framework for rehabilitation of tropical rain forests

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 25 Apr 2005

Dr. Gregory S. Gilbert, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, UCSC and Co-director, CenTREAD.

When novel isn't nice: emergent plant diseases and biodiversity conservation

CenTREAD Brownbag

Thurs, 3 Feb 2005

Alexandre Bonesso Sampaio, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Brasilia, Brasil

Tropical Dry Forest Restoration

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 31 Jan 2005

Dr. Hugh Raffles, Associate Professor, Anthropology, UCSC

Local knowledge/Intimate Knowledge: revisiting the politics of nature in the Brazilian Amazon.


Tues,9 Nov 2004

Women As Social Warriors III: Mujeres en Marcha

These are the voices of women carving out their place in the labor
movement and re-energizing it as they: demand fair working conditions at UCSC, engage in the statewide struggle for decent health care and benefits, and "feminize" the leadership of the Latin American banana worker unions. Presenting Panelists:
Iris Mungia, Secretary of Women, Coalition of Latin American Banana Unions (COSIBAH) and the Coalition of Honduran Banana Unions (COLSIBA)
Cristina Vasquez, Vice President, UNITE HERE
Maria Elena Alcantar and Maria Padilla, Local #3299 AFSCME (UCSC)

The Women as Social Warriors project is a UCSC student, staff, and
faculty collaboration that spotlights Chicana and Latina activists
challenging local, regional, cross-border and global injustices in
their communities.

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 10 May 2004

Dr. Gabriel Ramos Fernández Pronatura Península de Yucatán, México

Conservation through community participation in the Maya forest

Click here for summary of talk

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 26 Apr 2004

Dr. Exequiel Ezcurra, President, National Institute of Ecology, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Mexico City. México

Conservation issues in Baja California and the Sea of Cortés

Exequiel Ezcurra received his Ph.D. at the University College of North Wales in Bangor, and is a renound expert on the ecology of arid zones, the biogeography of desert plants, the use of mathematical modeling in natural resource management, and the conservation and management of natural resources in developing countries. He has published more than 120 research articles, books, chapters, and essays, including the recent book The New Island Biogeography of the Sea of Cortés. He is the recipients of numerous prestigious awards for his research and conservation work. Dr. Ezcurra was formerly head of the Biodiversity Research Center of the Californias at the San Diego Natural history Museum. He is currently the President of the National Insitute of Ecology in Mexico.

Brown-bag seminar

Mon, 26 April 2004

Dr. Exequiel Ezcurra, President, National Institute of Ecology, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Mexico City. México

Adaptive morphology of desert plants

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 12 April 2004

Dr. David Barton Bray, Associate Professor, Florida International University, Miami, FL http://www.fiu.edu/~brayd

Towards Sustainable Landscapes: New Research on Community Forestry in Mexico
I would be reporting on a several year multi and interdisciplinary project on community forestry in Mexico both nationally and in several different regions. I have been working with teams of economists, ecologists, anthropologists, and remote sensing specialists to develop new data and perspectives on the social and economic benefits of community forest management,and would be reporting on some of the latest findings of this research.

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 5 April 2004

Logan Hennessy, University of California, Berkeley

Mining, Amerindians, and Environmental Transformations in Guyanaâs Upper Mazaruni River Basin, 1986-2003
The forested villages of the Upper Mazaruni river basin in Guyana became a leading site of informal gold and diamond extraction in the late 1980s.  This paper examines the resulting transformations of ecological integrity and Amerindian subsistence livelihood created by the collision of miners using new technology and Amerindian peoples with shifting land titles.  I employ a political ecology framework to illustrate that the inheritance of Îvillagizationâ land policy from Guyanaâs ãCooperative Socialistä period (1968-1985) conditioned subsequent material changes in the land and people of the Upper Mazaruni.  Omissions, delays, and partial awards of village titles permitted an accelerating system of mechanized mineral extraction that simultaneously exploited Amerindian labor and the riverbed of the Mazaruni.  The impacts of increasing environmental transformations >from mining the Upper Mazaruni prompted political mobilization of local Amerindians at regional and national scales, but not as ethnic groups.  This paper therefore situates the Upper Mazaruni case in the wider context of Latin Americaâs indigenous movement, in particular its deviation from the apparent symbiosis of environmental interventions and mobilization as particular ethnic peoples.

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 27 Oct 2003

Dr. Alba Gonzalez-Jácome, Professor in the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Universidad Iberoamerican, Mexico City.

Environment and culture: relationships, social and cultural
management, and the change process in agriculture.

Alba will speak about aspects of change in agriculture that have been relatively little studied by ecologists, such as
ideology (myths, supernatural personages, etc.), and connect them to the aspects of environmental management and natural resource conservation. The understanding of this connection is essential for achieving sustainability. Studies of this type are limited in scope and location, but Alba will speak from her own experiences from many locations in Mexico, including the tropics. As an anthropologist, she will point out the ways people in her field have studied concepts such as ideology, but how they don't necessarily study environmental management. She will use a cultural ecology approach, and speak about how such an approach is important for those of us who study the change process and the conversion to sustainable agriculture.

Brown-bag Seminar

Tues, 28 Oct 2003

Dr. Alba Gonzalez-Jácome, Professor in the Graduate Program in Social Anthropology, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Universidad Iberoamerican, Mexico City. México

Combining agroecology and cultural ecology in the study of change in agroecosystems

Environmental Studies Seminar

Mon, 29 Sep 2003

 Dr. Rodolfo Dirzo Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Ecological consequences of the Empty Forest Syndrome: experiments and observations in Mexican Tropical Forests

Tropical forests are being heavily defaunated due to anthropogenic impacts, creating ecosystems in which the vertebrate fauna is absent or poorly represented; these are the so called empty forests. Recent work shows that tropical defaunation is not random: the most heavily affected species are those of medium/large size. Ongoing studies in Mexican tropical forests analyze the ecological consequences of such defaunation in terms of changes of the patterns of mammalian herbivory and alterations of the forest understory. More recent work, based on experimental manipulations, suggests a cause-and-effect relationship between the absence of medium/large mammals and floristic impoverishment. These complex interactions and a conceptual model of the role of mammals on plant structure and diversity in the understory will be discussed.

Roundtable Discussion

Mon, 29 Sep 2003

Dr. Graciela García-Guzmán Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Plant diseases and conservation of Mexican tropical forests

Brown-bag Seminar

Tues, 30 Sep 2003

Dr. Rodolfo Dirzo Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Floristic diversity and conservation status of Mexican tropical forests
Environmental Studies
January 2002

Edgardo Soo Proyecto Porroca, Congreso General Kuna (Panamá)

Governance and conservation in the indigenous reserve of Kuna Yala