Ana Luiza Espada
PhD student in School for Forest Resources & Conservation; B.S. at Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz -ESALQ) & M.S. at Federal University of Para
For the past seven years Ana Luiza has worked in the Amazon on community forest management in Amazonia with Instituto. She leads IFT’s Community and Family Forest Program, which works to improve livelihoods of families living in Amazonian forests. For her dissertation research, Ana Luiza will examine diverse community forest management initiatives within protected areas, such as extractive reserves and sustainable development reserves.
Ana Luiza is jointly funded by TCD program and School for Forest Resources & Conservation.
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Benjamin Lowe
MS / PhD Student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School for Natural Resources & Environment; B.S. (Environmental Studies) at Wheaton College
Ben is interested in working with local communities to develop sustainable production of natural resources. Ben’s research experiences are diverse with work in Chicago area, Gulf of Mexico and Tanzania. He has spent much of the past 10 years in the non- profit sector as a writer, educator, and advocate. He was on the Board of Trustees, and later elected as the Chair of the Board for the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies. He hopes to conduct his thesis research on how climate change has impacted local fisheries in Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania and what measures communities are adopting to adapt to these changes in fishery resources.
Ben is funded by a Foreign Language Scholarship from the Center for African Studies and is jointly funded by TCD program and School for Natural Resources & Environment.
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Carolina Jordão
PhD student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School for Natural Resources & Environment; B.S. (Environmental Managements) & M.S. (Environmental Engineering) at University of São Paulo
Carolina has been working in environmental management for the past 10 years, including work with Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV). At ICV, she has worked with diverse set of stakeholders in the Amazon frontier of Mato Grosso State in Brazil. Her work and training has focused on building social and human capital among local leaders to promote municipal governance. She has worked with UF’s Amazon Conservation Leadership Institute team as both a student in two specialization courses and to develop similar courses for ICV. For her dissertation research, she is particularly interested in evaluating the impact of capacity building programs and the process of change in the Amazon.
Carolina is jointly funded by TCD program and School for Natural Resources & Environment.
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Claudia Andrea Baudoin
PhD student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School for Natural Resources & Environment; B.S. at University of São Paulo (ESALQ) in Brazil & AgroParisTech in Paris, France & M.S. (Agricultural Engineering) at AgroParisTech in Paris, France.
Andrea is interested in conducting research that contributes to the understanding of natural resource management under Indigenous Autonomy scenarios in Bolivia. She has research experience with Universities, NGOs and International institutions on family farming production and commercialization systems and public policies in different countries and at different scales. More specifically, she has worked with Agronomists and Veterinarians without Borders (AVSF) in Bolivia and Ecuador coordinating applied research on production, commercialization and public policies for family.
Andrea is jointly funded by TCD program & School for Natural Resources & Environment.
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Cristina Nuñez Godoy
PhD student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School for Natural Resources & Environment; B.A. (Business Administration) from National University of Salta and M.S. from SNRE in University of Florida
Cristina is interested in conducting research that intersects biodiversity conservation and economic development. Prior to starting her MS at UF, she explored the sustainable commercialization of Brazil nut in the Brazilian Amazon, and, more generally, the development of markets for non-timber products. For her Master’s research, she explored how economic tools can be used to enhance livelihoods through wildlife certification programs to promote cashmere production in the Patagonian region of Argentina. She will continue her PhD at UF and switch her focus to examining payment for environmental service programs in the Chaco of Argentina.
Cristina is co-funded by the TCD program, SNRE, and the Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation.
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Nyago Moses
MS Student in School for Forest Resources & Conservation; B.S. (Wood Science and Technology) at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
Moses will join UF from his current position as a Project Coordinator of the Murchison-Semliki REDD+ pilot project in Uganda. His research for the Master’s degree will focus on understanding the social-economic impacts of REDD+ projects in Africa. Moses’ work is motivated by developing conservation interventions that satisfy both ecological and social goals. He brings considerable experience to UF through his work on collaborative forest management, REDD+ projects, engagement with different stakeholders including local communities, and participation in international meetings, such as the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) in Durban.
Moses is jointly funded by a Beinecke African Conservation Scholarship from Wildlife Conservation Society, School for Forest Resources & Conservation and the TCD program.