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
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