People
Stephen Ventura, Director
LTC Executive Committee
LTC Affiliates
LTC Honorary Fellows
Visiting Scholars
Director
Professor, Environmental Studies and Soil Science, sventura@wisc.edu, 262-6416
Research interests: land information systems, food security and food systems, sustainability of bioenergy crops, land use planning, and natural resource management.
LTC Affiliates
Jennfier Alix-Garcia, Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, alixgarcia@wisc.edu, 262-3946
Common property deforestation, payments for environmental services, and inequality and natural resource exploitation. Current projects examine the impact of displaced populations on host communities and the effect of inequality in determining civic participation.
Teri Allendorf, Honorary Fellow, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and Manager, China IGERT Program, allendorf@wisc.edu, 262-3946
Human dimensions of biodiversity and conservation, park-people relationships, community-based conservation, biodiversity values and attitudes. Nepal, Myanmar, and China.
Emily Atkinson, Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography eeatkinson@wisc.edu, 262-8920
Land-use change, ecosystem ecology, ecosystem services, environmental policy.
Brad Barham, Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, barham@aae.wisc.edu, 262-8966
Land use issues in Central America, conservation and development in the Peruvian Amazon, agricultural biotechnology adoption in the US, and the impact of academic patenting on the direction and pace of university research.
Peter Bloch, Faculty Associate and Senior Scientist, Forest Ecology and Management, pcbloch@wisc.edu, 262-0249
Social justice and access to land based resources; social conflict and land resources; social institutions, resource management and environmental change; property institutions, land quality, and socioeconomic development; land law and policy; access to land and housing in urban area; global.
Katherine Bowie, Professor, Anthropology, kabowie@wisc.edu, 262-2132
Historical and political anthropology; Thailand/Southeast Asia.
Daniel Bromley, Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, dbromley@wisc.edu, 262-6184
Primary research area concerns the process of immiserization in sub-Saharan Africa. Second research interest concerns U.S. commercial fisheries policy and management
Michael Carter, Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, mrcarter@wisc.edu, 263-2478
Economics of asset accumulation and how the distribution of land shapes, and is shaped by, economic growth; economic liberalization and the land access of the rural poor; trust, social capital and the reproduction of inequality; income distribution dynamics in South Africa.
Jean-Paul Chavas, Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, chavas@aae.wisc.edu, 261-1944
Efficiency and equity issues in resource access; resource allocation and policy design, with a special focus on food security, poverty, productivity growth, and Africa.
Jane Collins, Professor, Rural Sociology and Women's Studies, jcollins@ssc.wisc.edu, 265-6482
Labor process, farming systems, gender, development studies, cultural studies; Latin America; qualitative methods.
James Delehanty, Faculty Associate, International Studies and Programs, jmdeleha@wisc.edu, 262-4458
Historical geography, land use change, and land tenure in the Sahel; environmental contexts of changing livestock production systems and improved livestock disease control in East Africa.
Michael Dockry, Liaison to College of Menominee Nation, USDA Forest Service mdockry@fs.fed.us, (715) 799-6226 ext. 3222
Sustainable forest management, indigenous community forestry, social aspects of sustainable forestry, forest and natural resource planning, sustainable development, and environmental history. American Indian communities in the United States with a focus on Wisconsin and Indigenous communities in Latin America with a focus on Bolivia.
Michael Dougherty, Ph.D. in Development Studies, mdougherty@wisc.edu
Areas of research interest include globalization and development in Latin America and society and natural resources.
Jess Gilbert, Professor, Rural Sociology, gilbert@ssc.wisc.edu, 262-9530
Landlord-tenant relations in agriculture and the history of farm policy and land-use planning in the 20th-century US, especially the innovative and progressive programs of the New Deal; rural landownership and control among American Indians and African-Americans, including the decline in their farm numbers as well as strategies for increased ownership/control; land and democracy (e.g., civic participation, community wellbeing, and political engagement).
Harvey M. Jacobs, Professor, Urban & Regional Planning, Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, hmjacobs@wisc.edu, 262-0552
Public policy for land use and environmental management. Social and political factors influencing policy adoption and implementation. Social construction of property rights, and social discourse over these rights. Global spread of private property as a social institution. Conservative challenges to mainstream land use and environmental movements, specifically in the U.S. and western Europe. Public policy for peri-urban land management. Country/region focus--north America, western Europe, eastern Europe, southern Africa.
Jack Kloppenburg, Associate Professor, Rural Sociology, jrkloppe@facstaff.wisc.edu, 262-6867
Sustainable agriculture; food sovereignty; political economy of genetic resource; participatory approaches.
Heinz Klug, Associate Professor, Law School, klug@wisc.edu; 262-7370
Land reform and restitution in South Africa.
Susana Lastarria, Senior Scientist, Urban and Regional Planning, slastarr@wisc.edu, 262-0097
Social justice and access to land-based resources, social conflict and land resources, property institutions, land quality, and socioeconomic development; Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe.
Erika Marin-Spiotta, Assistant Professor, Geography, marinspiotta@geography.wisc.edu
My research integrates field and lab experimental work across different scales, from landscape-level effects of changes in land use on species composition and carbon pools, to molecular changes in organic matter chemistry. I use stable and radioisotopes, spectroscopic, and analytical techniques to quantify process rates, identify sources and sinks, and better understand underlying mechanisms controlling stabilization and losses of organic matter and elements within and across ecosystems. For more information on my research go to lab website.
Thomas Mitchell, Professor, Law, tmitchell@wisc.edu, 890-1237
Landownership and property rights in poor and minority communities in rural America and to a lesser extent southern Africa. Past work with LTC includes building a summer externship program that placed law students from more than 30 law schools in public interest law firms across rural America to work on real estate, housing, and community development matters. Some students who participated in the externship program are now lawyers doing important work in civil rights and community development across the country.
Kris Olds, Professor, Geography, kolds@wisc.edu, 262-5685
Urban (re)development processes, urban governance, forced evictions and other forms of involuntary displacement, urban mega-projects, housing rights, and housing rights NGOs.
Joshua Posner, Professor, Agronomy, jlposner@wisc.edu, 262-0876
Farming and landscape management in the tropics and farming and food systems (in Wisconsin); Upper Midwest, West Africa, Latin America (the Andes) and SW China (Himalayas).
Jess Reed, Professor, Animal Science, jdreed@wisc.edu, 263-4310
The relationship between land tenure and access to land and livestock production in developing countries and newly independent states, with emphasis on central Asia, China and Africa.
Adena Rissman, Assistant Professor, Forest and Wildlife Ecology, arrissman@wisc.edu, 608-263-4356
Management, conservation, and sustainable use of forest and range ecosystems. This research addresses the social and ecological drivers and outcomes of conservation strategies at the landscape scale.
Adrian Treves, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies, atreves@wisc.edu, 890-1450
Human dimensions of wildlife management and conservation, with fieldwork currently conducted in Wisconsin, Ecuador, and South Africa. Conservation planning, with a current collaboration with a team in Bolivia to document the stakeholder participation, expert technical input, and policy process for selecting interventions to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.
Aili Tripp, Associate Professor, Political Science and Women's Studies; Associate Dean, International Studies; Director, Women's Studies Research Center, tripp@polisci.wisc.edu, 273-1873
Gender and politics; gender and development, Africa.
Matt Turner, Professor, Geography, mturner2@wisc.edu, 262-2465
Cultural ecology, political economy, environmental monitoring, Africa.
Alberto Vargas, Associate Director, 209 Ingraham Hall, 608-262-2811, avargasp@wisc.edu
Institutional, social and technical aspects of community-based natural resource management and the conservation of natural resources. Extensive work in Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.
Stephen Ventura, Professor, Soil Science, sventura@wisc.edu, 262-6416
Land information systems and related GIS for land management and planning.
Neil Whitehead, Professor, Anthropology and Religious Studies, nlwhiteh@facstaff.wisc.edu, 262-2866
South America; indigenous peoples
Jack Williams, Assistant Professor, Geography, jww@geography.wisc.edu, 608-265-5537
Ecological responses to climate change and the two-way interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere. Focus on late-Quaternary vegetational and environmental change.
Lydia Zepeda, Professor, Consumer Science, lzepeda@wisc.edu, 262-9487
Economics of producing and consuming food; agricultural technology adoption; the structure of agriculture; farm family labor allocation, especially the role of women and children; international labeling policies of genetically engineered foods; demand for organic, local and indigenous foods; US and Latin America (with some work in Australia and Europe).
LTC Honorary Fellows
Bilal Butt LTC Honorary Fellow, August 2008-May 2009
bilal@geography.wisc.edu
BILAL BUTT is a postdoctoral research fellow in department of geography at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He finished his PhD in 2007 from the Department of Geography at Michigan State University. His broad research interests lie in cultural/political ecology, livestock/pastoral mobility, conservation and development, the application of, and modeling using geospatial technologies at the micro-scale, rangeland ecology, and ethics in/of development. His research has been supported by funding from Michigan State University, the National Science Foundation, and the Compton Foundation. Institutional support is provided by the International Livestock Research Institute, the Government of Kenya, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His postdoctoral research, supported by the a postdoctoral research fellowship from the National Science Foundation, examines the explicit space-time relationships between soil, vegetation, and pastoral mobility among Maasai pastoralists in Southwestern Kenya.
Kathryn DeMaster LTC Honorary Fellow, August 2008-May 2009
Kathryn_DeMaster@brown.edu
KATHRYN DEMASTER received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. Katheryn was a Lecturer at the Nelson Institute, as well as an honorary fellow at the University of Wisconsin's Land Tenure Center. Her scholarship emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to environmental issues. Kathryn's research and teaching primarily explore local and sustainable agro-food systems, organic farming, global agriculture issues, European Union agri-environmental policies, environmental sociology and political ecology. Her dissertation, supported by the Kosciuszko Foundation and entitled "Waking Up to the European Dream: The Shifting Landscapes of Polish Organic Farming," emphasizes the socioeconomic transitions, environmental impacts, and changing policy regulations facing Poland's organic farmers, in the context of Poland's recent (2004) entry into the European Union. Kathryn DeMaster will be joining the CES faculty as Visiting Assistant Professor in July, 2009. She will be teaching ENVS0110; Humans, Nature, and the Environment: Addressing Environmental Change in the 21st Century.
Margaret Holland LTC Honorary Fellow, January-December 2010
margaret.b.holland@gmail.com
MAGGIE HOLLAND received her MSc (2004) and Ph.D. (2009) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison?s Nelson Institute in the Environment and Resources program. Her dissertation research focused on modeling the influence of protected areas on poverty reduction in Central America. She is a joint postdoctoral research fellow with the Land Tenure Center and Conservation International, based in Washington, DC. Her current work focuses on issues related to the spatial prioritization of PES/REDD schemes, as related to global poverty reduction goals, deforestation hotspots, and land tenure security. Her regional focus is the Tropical Andes, with specific analysis on Ecuador.
Paula Kahumbu LTC Honorary Fellow, March-April 2008
paula@wildlifedirect.org
PAULA KAHUMBU is co-author of the bestselling Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship. Owen is a baby hippo and Mzee a 130-year-old giant tortoise. Dr. Kahumbu oversees their care in Mombasa, Kenya. She is an ecologist and General Manager of Lafarge Eco Systems. She also is with Wildlife Direct and in charge of developing conservation partnerships. She spent many years studying monkeys and elephants in Kenya and worked for the Kenya Wildlife Service on wildlife policy, trade and park management issues and later managed a quarry restoration company. She is passionate about Africa and conservation, saving wild species and wild places. Her life goal is to revert the people of the world to loving nature.
Manolo Morales LTC Honorary Fellow, October 2009-May 2010
mmorales@ecolex-ec.org
MANOLO MORALES is a human rights lawyer and Executive Director of ECOLEX, an environmental and human rights NGO in Ecuador, and President of CEDENMA (2005-09), an umbrella organization for Ecuadorian environmental NGOs. Morales holds both a Masters in Environment Law and Doctor in Law. He has dedicated his work to Environment and Agrarian issues, with experience in Ecuador and research in Spain, France, Israel, and Ecuador (focusing on environmental policy, land tenure and biodiversity). His areas of expertise include: Social and Environment Conflict Management, Land Tenure, Community Paralegal and Environment Law. Morales worked with CARE International for 10 years in activities related to the forest, land and advocacy. He has also worked as a consultant for several international organizations. He has authored many publications, (topics include: Community paralegal, Land Tenure in America Latina, Genetic Resources Access, Bioprospection), and made numerous presentations at conferences in Ecuador and internationally. Current projects center on guiding local governments in land ordinance surveys and the development of a cadastral system for the legalization and registry of rural lands in Ecuador. Morales currently is a member of the following networks: ELAW, IUCN and AIDA.
James Murombedzi LTC Honorary Fellow, March-June 2008
jcmurombedzi@gmail.com
JAMES MUROMBEDZI is with the Liberia Land Rights and Community Forestry Programme. Recently, he served as the Regional Director for Southern Africa, for the World Conservation Union. His passion is for rural development, conservation and development and livelihood enhancement among marginalized communities in developing countries. His professional focus has been on community economic development, the environment, human rights issues, governance, peace, poverty alleviation, and the development of strong and independent civil societies. Recently, he has been working on linking natural resources governance, community based natural resources management and land tenure with climate change adaptation, livelihoods, and policy, particularly in communal tenure regimes.
Luis Su?rez LTC Honorary Fellow, March-June 2008 and October 2009-May 2010
l.suarez@conservation.org
LUIS SUAREZ is a professor of ecology at the Pontificia Catholic University of Ecuador, and he directs the regional office of Conservation International in Quito, Ecuador. Sr. Su?rez is a senior leader of conservation policy in Ecuador and supervises collaborative research and forest conservation efforts with colleagues in Peru, Colombia and Costa Rica. During the past five years he has spearheaded a program to directly pay Chachi indigenous communities living in northern Ecuador to conserve their forests, drawing on funding from donors seeking to mitigate climate change impacts by sequestering carbon. This project is an important pilot for South America in that it seeks to use carbon offset funds to bolster communal land rights of indigenous groups and save biodiversity. Sr. Su?rez is closely involved in building Ecuador?s new national level program, Sociobosque, designed to directly reward individuals and communities who agree to conserve forests and channel carbon offset funds to them. He has traveled to other Latin American countries and to European donor agencies, advising on developing forest payment plans.
Triet Tran LTC Honorary Fellow, January-December 2010
ttriet@gmail.com; LTC phone: 608/890-2600.
TRIET TRAN is the Southeast Asia Program Coordinator of the International Crane Foundation. Since 1999, he has overseen ICF?s crane research and conservation activities in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. He is a lecturer at the University of Science in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam where he served as Dean of Biology Faculty (2007-2009) and Head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (2002-2009). His research interests include tropical freshwater wetland vegetation, mangrove ecology, invasive alien plants, community-based wetland conservation. He is a member of IUCN?s Commission on Ecosystem Management and Invasive Species Specialist Group. Dr. Tran received his Ph.D degree in Land Resources from the Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin?Madison in 1999.