TCD ASSISTANTS
Ana Luiza Violato Espada
Ph.D. Candidate in Forest Resources and Conservation, School of Forest Resources and Conservation; M.S. in Natural Resource Management and Local Development in the Amazon, Federal University of Pará; B.S. in Forest Engineering, University of São Paulo.
Ana is a TCD member and Ph.D. Candidate working with Dr. Karen Kainer. Ana has extensive professional experience working with tropical forest management, forest certification, community forest management and implementation of public policies related to sustainable natural resources management in the Brazilian Amazon. When she worked in a socio-environmental NGO (Tropical Forest Institute), Ana was involved with communities from Extractive Reserves in the Brazilian Amazon. From this experience, she developed her current research interests, which are to understand what has led communities to legally manage their timber, identify variation in co-managed forest schemes, and analyze how specific logging strategies and their integration of different types of knowledge have affected forest governance. Developing participatory-action research in extractive reserves from Acre, Amazonas, and Pará states, her research will contribute to the understanding of the adaptive multi-stakeholder’s process to conserve forest and promote community empowerment. Website: https://anaviolatoespada.com/en/
Ana is jointly funded by TCD and the School of Forest Resources & Conservation (SFRC) at UF.
Ange Asanzi
Master of Sustainable Development Practice (MDP) student in the Center for Latin American Studies and the Center for African Studies; M.S. in Economics, University of Pretoria in South Africa; B.S. in Commerce (Finance and Economics), University of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Ange Asanzi is a freshwater conservationist, where she has been working with dam affected people and African civil society organizations to stop destructive dam projects on the Congo, Nile, Niger, and Omo rivers. Over the past 5 years, she worked with the non-profit organization International Rivers on strengthening grassroots movements and developing resource materials on energy, resettlement issues, freshwater ecosystem, and gender. The experience at International Rivers helped foster her commitment to protect freshwater ecosystems and strengthen grassroots movements, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), her country of origin. She is fluent in English, French, and Portuguese. In her spare time, Ange actively supports women movements on climate justice in the DRC. Ange’s long-term goal and desire are to positively contribute to the existing body of research on natural resources conservation and management.
Ange is funded by TCD and Master of Sustainable Development Practice (MDP) Program at UF.
Claudia Andrea Baudoin
Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School for Natural Resources & Environment; B.S., 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 and School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) at UF.
Ernesto Viveiros de Castro
Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment; M.S. in Ecology and B.S. in Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Ernesto is a biologist from Brazil and has been working in Protected Areas management for 17 years. He is an environmental analyst and researcher at ICMBio (Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade), the agency that manages Brazilian Federal Protected Areas. He was the manager of the Serra dos Órgãos National Park (2004-2011), General Coordinator of Public Use at ICMBio (2011-2012), and manager of the Tijuca National Park (2012-2018). He is also a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA-IUCN) and the Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group (TAPAS-IUCN). Ernesto got his M.S. degree studying differential extinction vulnerabilities of small mammals in fragmented landscapes in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. As a manager, in the last years Ernesto did research mainly on nature-based tourism, but also studied animal reintroductions, invasive species and other aspects of Protected Area Management. As a Ph.D. student, he is studying the contribution of long-distance trails to nature conservation, addressing ecological, economic, and social aspects.
Ernesto is funded by TCD, the Brazilian Government, and the School for Natural Resources & Environment (SNRE) at UF.
Juliana Santiago
M.A. student in the Center for Latin American Studies; M.S. in Corporate Finance, IAG-PUC – the Business School of the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro; B.A. in Economics and Accounting, UFRJ – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
In 2006 Juliana joined the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) after a 12-year career in the private sector. In these past years, she has been a part of some important efforts in the development of Brazil, having financed investments for segments crucial to her country’s sustainable development, such as forest protection, sanitation, solid waste management, transportation, and public management. With the world facing unprecedented environmental risks that must be mitigated while providing economic alternatives for people living in poverty, her mission in BNDES has expanded to encompass innovative policies that are both socially and environmentally sustainable. In 2013, Juliana was appointed head of the Amazon Fund, a pioneering instrument managed by BNDES for financing actions to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation while promoting the sustainable use of the Amazon, inspired by the REDD+ mechanism created by the UNFCCC. While monitoring projects in remote areas of the Amazon, she was moved by the experiences of traditional communities struggling to defend their territories from the ravages of loggers, miners, and the expansion of agribusinesses. She has been inspired by hundreds of community-level initiatives to develop models of a forest-based economy that respects ecological, social, and cultural values. She is absolutely convinced about the critical connections among tropical forests, climate change, and development.
Juliana Santiago is funded by TCD and the Center for Latin American Studies at UF.
Leandra Merz
Ph.D. student in Geography; Masters in Sustainable Development (MDP); B.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida.
Leandra studies human-wildlife coexistence near protected areas in Southern Africa, including Limpopo National Park in Mozambique and North Luangwa National Park in Zambia. She uses participatory methods to understand the risks from wildlife to humans and from humans to wildlife in addition to identifying potential ways to improve coexistence. Leandra served as a Peace Corps Volunteer with the Forestry Department in Zambia from 2009-2010. In 2011, she founded IIM International, a non-profit dedicated to improving access to education in rural Zambia.
Leandra is jointly funded by TCD and the Department of Geography at UF.
Michael Esbach
Ph.D. Candidate in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment; B.A. in Sustainable Development, University of Virginia.
Michael is an interdisciplinary scientist who combines scientific tools with local knowledge and participation to support biocultural conservation. From Equatorial Guinea to Kenya, Ecuador, and the Solomon Islands, Michael has worked with indigenous communities to bridge different knowledge systems, use the power of natural history to empower scientific inquiry, and create meaningful engagement in conservation. Michael’s dissertation research draws on a diversity of disciplines to explore biocultural resilience within indigenous communities in the Amazon of Ecuador. Leveraging a long-term partnership with the Cofan Nation, his research explores traditional management techniques as models of resilience. That is, how do the Cofan maintain their environment in ways that reinforce their culture and maintain their well-being? Most importantly, Michael’s work seeks to empower indigenous self-determination by demonstrating the effectiveness of indigenous knowledge and management strategies.
Michael is funded by TCD, the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), and the Biodiversity Institute at UF.
Percy Peralta
Ph.D. Candidate in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment; M.S. in Interdisciplinary Ecology, University of Florida; B.S. in Agricultural Science, Universidad Agraria La Molina.
Percy is interested in the socio-economic and environmental implications of natural resource use in the tropics. He works on community development, conservation and indigenous rights in the Central Peruvian Amazon and Western Panama, for NGO, grassroots organizations, research centers and governmental agencies. Percy’s long-term goals are to work with NGOs or governmental agencies in support of the conservation of natural resources and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Percy is jointly funded by TCD and School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) at UF.
Sinomar Fonseca Jr.
Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment; M.S. in Tropical Biology and Natural Resources, Amazonia Research National Institute (INPA); B.S. in Biological Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia – Brazil.
Sinomar has been working in protected areas management for the past 13 years in the Brazilian Amazon. He has worked with participatory monitoring programs, management plans with a focus on capacity building of a variety of stakeholders and local empowerment and involvement. For his dissertation research, Sinomar is interested in assessing the impacts of local level environmental policies and governance in the Brazilian Amazon.
Sinomar is jointly funded by TCD, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the School for Natural Resources & Environment (SNRE) at UF.
Vratika Chaudhary
Ph.D. Candidate in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation; M.S. in Biological Sciences, Clemson University; Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S.), West Bengal University of Health Sciences, Kolkata, India.
Vratika’s dissertation research is focused on the ecology of elusive carnivores of subtropical forests in eastern Himalayan region. Eastern Himalayan region of Northeast India is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet; yet, we know little about distribution, abundance or conservation status of mammalian carnivores. Vratika plans to fill this knowledge gap through her doctoral research and provide a comprehensive assessment of carnivore community in this biodiversity hotspot.
Vratika is funded by TCD and the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at UF.
TCD/Moore Governance & Infrastructure in the Amazon Program Assistants
Alexandra Sabo
Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Geography; M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona; and B.A. in Latin American Studies and Spanish from the College of Charleston.
Alli is a human geographer whose current work focuses on hydropower development in the Brazilian Amazon. Broadly, she is interested in the multi-scalar governance of climate change and energy development; the socio-spatial implications of energy development and energy transitions; and the forms of social mobilization and resistance that energy development and expansion generate, and is particularly interested in the ways that each of these processes are gendered. She has worked for the past 4 years on an interdisciplinary research team exploring hydropower development in the Amazon as a Water Institute Graduate Fellow and as a member of the Amazon Dams Network.
Alli is funded by TCD program at UF, and through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to TCD for the GIA project.
Carla Mere Roncal
Ph.D. student in School of Forest Resources and Conservation; M.S. (Environmental Science and Policy) at George Mason University, and B.S. (Biology) at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.
Carla is a Peruvian tropical biologist and has been working in the Peruvian Amazon for the past 8 years, including work with the Peruvian non-profit Conservación Amazónica (ACCA) and conducting research with indigenous people in Loreto (Maijuna) and Cusco (Machiguengas) regions. Carla’s work and research experience encompass studies on avian, mammal, and dung beetle ecology, and the use of “Traditional Ecological Knowledge” of Amazonian indigenous communities. For her Ph.D. dissertation, she wants to apply a landscape approach to study assemblages of terrestrial birds in the Amazon, working closely with local and/or indigenous communities.
Carla is funded by the TCD program and School of Forest Resources and Conservation, and through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to TCD for the GIA project
Carolina Jordão
Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment; M.S. in Environmental Engineering and B.S. in Environmental Management at University of São Paulo.
Carolina is an environmental manager from Brazil and has been working in environmental governance in the Brazilian Amazon for the past 8 years, including work with the NGO 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, focusing on issues of municipal environmental management, social participation, forest governance, leadership training and capacity building and socio-environmental impacts of hydroelectric dams. 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 working with the Rede de Capacitação da Amazônia (Recam) network and is particularly interested in exploring issues around funding, collaboration and gender integration in socioenvironmental NGOs the Brazilian Amazon.
Carolina is funded by the TCD program and School of Natural Resources and Environment at UF, and through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to TCD for the GIA project.
Felipe Veluk Gutierrez
Ph.D. student in Forest Resources and Conservation, School of Forest Resources and Conservation; M.S. in Management and Conservation of Tropical Forests and Biodiversity from CATIE (Costa Rica); B.S. in Forestry from ESALQ/University of São Paulo (Brazil).
Felipe is a passionate social-forester from Brazil interested in collaborative action-research related to governance, resilience of socio-ecological systems, community forest management, social activism/leadership and rural development in the Amazon and other parts of the Neotropics. He has been working for more than 20 years in Brazil and abroad (Australia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico) with organizations such as IUCN, CATIE, Conservation International – Brazil, among others. At UF he is working with the Governance and Infrastructure in the Amazon (GIA) Project, between the southern Amazonas and northern Rondônia states (Purus/Madeira interfluvial region), analyzing the different strategies and tools being used to promote good governance, conservation and development.
Felipe is funded by the Organization of the American States, TCD program at UF, and through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to TCD for the GIA project.
Marliz Arteaga Gómez-García
Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment; Master in Sustainable Development and Practice (MDP) with a specialization in Tropical Conservation and Development (TCD) from the Center for African Studies and Center for Latin American Studies at University of Florida; B. S. in Environmental Engineering from the Military School of Engineering (EMI) La Paz, Bolivia.
During her professional life Marliz worked as an environmental consultant in different public and private institutions in the area of environmental management. She also worked as a program officer in different NGOs doing work focused on environmental education, sustainable livelihoods and risk management in the Bolivian Amazon. Since 2007, Marliz has also been and is currently a professor at the Amazonian University of Pando. In addition, she is a tutor of the “Tu Beca Bolivia” program and is one of the leaders of the International Research Network: Amazon Dams International Research Network – ADN / RBA / RIRA. Her research is focused on environmental governance, political ecology, socio-ecological systems, participatory research, mixed research methods, and sustainable development.
Marliz is funded by the Bolivian Government, and through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to TCD for the GIA project.
Pamela Montero-Alvarez
Ph.D. student in Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management; M.S. in Amazonian Studies from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP); and B.S. in Biological Sciences from the National University of the Peruvian Amazon (UNAP).
Pamela is a Peruvian biologist with experience in protected areas and community-based management of natural resources, planning and participatory tools for rural diagnosis. She has professional experience as a Specialist on Governance for the Regional Office of Loreto for “Peru Bosques” – a USAID/Peru Project, and later served as Specialist on Natural Protected Areas for the same project. Previous professional experiences include Director of Natural Resources of the Municipality of “Datem del Maranon”, Loreto-Peru, Community Management Specialist at the Regional Project for Conservation in Loreto (Maijuna Native Community Proposal and Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Protected Area). Pamela has also worked in the Maranon River Basin, as a Specialist on conservation and ecotourism for the National Bureau of Forestry and Wildlife, Ministry of Agriculture. Her recent project entitled “Developing Communal Monitoring Strategies through Community-Based Tourism in the Peruvian Amazon” was funded by The Rufford Foundation. Pamela identifies her research interests to include relationships between conservation and tourism, social capital, protected area conservation strategies linked to sustainable development, and community-based tourism.
Pamela is funded by Fulbright-LASPAU, TCD and the Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management Department at UF, and through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to TCD for the GIA project.
Martha C. Rosero-Peña
Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Sociology and Race & Ethnicity, Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law; M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Management at Wageningen University and Research Center, The Netherlands; and B.S. in Animal Husbandry at the National University of Colombia with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Agroecology and Rural Development.
Martha has worked with various institutions such as WWF, Tropenbos Colombia, Institute of Ethnobiology-ACT Colombia, CETEC, CIPAV Foundation and the National Learning Service of Colombia for about 15 years. She has worked in environmental management, teaching and as an advisor to projects implemented with indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant communities in regions such as the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon, as well as, the Chocó Biogeographic region in Colombia and Ecuador. Martha’s professional experience contributed to create interdisciplinary strategies of train-the-trainers that support processes for vertical public policy transformation. Currently, the main topics of her dissertation research are related to socio-environmental responses related to climate change, adaptation policies in tropical regions and livelihood systems, especially for inhabitants of forest and rural areas, and ontological design approaches.
Martha is funded by TCD, Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law at UF, and through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to TCD for the GIA project.
Vanessa Luna
Ph.D. student in Interdisciplinary Ecology, School of Natural Resources and Environment; M.S. in Latin America Studies from University of Florida; and B.S. in Biology from Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina (Lima-Peru).
Vanessa has experience working with ecological and conservation projects in the Peruvian Amazon as a science coordinator of two biological stations in Manu National Park. In this position she promoted information sharing of scientific data among park rangers, indigenous conservationists, government environmental regulators, among others. For her Masters’ degree at UF, she evaluated the effectiveness of communal conservation areas in Peruvian Amazon. By being part of the TCD program, Vanessa hopes to gain tools and skills related to the creation of regional and international alliances for the conservation of natural areas in the Amazon. She is also interested in the promotion of spaces where conservation efforts that really work are shared, so she is very excited to be part of the Governance of Infrastructure in the Amazon project (GIA).
Vanessa is funded by the TCD program and School of Natural Resources and Environment at UF, and through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to TCD for the GIA project.