Core Faculty & Staff

Please click on the TCD Faculty and staff photos below to learn more about their research interests, geographic expertise, background and to see their C. Vitae. 

Bette Loiselle
TCD Director & Faculty
Contact: bloiselle@latam.ufl.edu
Research Interests: Tropical ecology and conservation. Seed dispersal mutualisms. Ecological niche modeling. Applications of Geographic Information Systems technology for biodiversity research and conservation
Geographic Expertise: Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil
Patricia Delamonica Sampaio
TCD Program Coordinator
Contact: psampaio@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Higher education. Community outreach. Nature art
Geographic Expertise: Brazil (Amazonia, Atlantic Rain Forest)
Karen Kainer
Faculty & Academic Advisor
Contact: kkainer@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Tropical forest ecology. Community forest management. Bertholletia excelsa (Brazil nut) ecology and management. Graduate education
Geographic Expertise: Western Amazon, Mexico, Paraguay, Latin American in general.
Bob Buschbacher
Faculty
Contact: rbusch@ifas.ufl.edu
Research Interests: Collaborative management of complex social-ecological systems
Geographic Expertise: Brazil, Amazonian–Andes region
Emilio M. Bruna
Faculty
Contact: embruna@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Tropical conservation. Plant population ecology
Geographic Expertise: Brazil (Amazonia, Cerrado)
Jonathan Dain
Faculty
Contact: jdain@latam.ufl.edu
Research Interests: Professional skills training. Facilitator. Social learning. Conflict management
Geographic Expertise: Brazil
Andrea B. Chavez
Assistant Scientist
Contact: achavez@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Forest management. Landscape ecology. Political ecology. Land use/land cover change. Remote sensing and GIS applications. Social and biophysical driving forces of landscape change
Geographic Expertise: Peru, Bolivia, Brazil.
Matthew T. Hallett
Assistant Research Professor
Contact: mhallett2320@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Tropical ecology & conservation, population dynamics & spatial distribution of medium & large-bodied mammals, human dimensions of wildlife management, participatory research, community-based wildlife conservation & management.
Geographic Expertise: Guyana (Guiana Shield – savanna & tropical rainforest)
Susan Paulson
Faculty
Contact: spaulson@latam.ufl.edu
Research Interests: Political ecology. Gender, class, race, ethnicity. Sustainability science
Geographic Expertise: Andes, Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Comparative Latin America
Marianne Schmink
Professor Emerita and Distinguished Teaching Scholar
Contact: schmink@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Tropical conservation and development. Gender and development
Geographic Expertise: Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean
Richard Stepp
J. Richard Stepp
Faculty
Contact: stepp@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Ecological anthropology. Ethnobotany. Medical anthropology
Geographic Expertise: Mesoamerica
Catherine Tucker
Faculty & Practicum Advisor
Contact: tuckerc@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Environmental governance. Community-based conservation. Institutional analysis. Climate change adaption. Sustainability. Coffee production and value chains
Geographic Expertise: Central America, Mexico, Peru
Robert Walker
Faculty
roberttwalker@ufl.edu
Nature-society studies; land change; land reform and conflict, Amazon
Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Amazonia
Angélica M. Almeyda Zambrano
Research Faculty
Contact: aalmeyda@ufl.edu
Research Interests: Nature tourism in highly biodiverse areas. Ecosystem-based approaches to land management. Land-use and land cover-change
Geographic Expertise: Amazon, Costa Rica, Caribbean