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Geographical Areas of Specialization: Honduras, eastern Guatemala, and Oaxaca, Mexico
Topical Interests: Ecological
Anthropology, Political Ecology, Community Forestry,
Collective Action, Common Property, Economic Development, Human
Dimensions of Global Environmental Change, Latin America
Current Courses: E101 Ecology and Society, E622 Theory and Empirical Methods in International Forest Resources and Institutions Research
Profile:
Understanding interrelationships between humans and the environment,
and exploring possible paths toward greater social and environmental
sustainability, constitute my central research interests. I am particularly
interested in the relationships between people and forests, and the circumstances
through which local populations may achieve sustainable natural
resource management and improved livelihoods. A key component in
my work is the study of the institutions (defined as the rules,
norms and values) associated with community organization, development
processes, and forest management. To assist with analyses of the
relationships between forest change and people's experiences, I
link ethnographic fieldwork with the techniques of remote sensing
and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and work across disciplinary
boundaries. My work currently encompasses two interrelated research projects:
The challenges of communal forest management and economic development
in western Honduras and Oaxaca , Mexico : Through longitudinal,
comparative research in a Lenca community ( Honduras ) and a Zapotec
community ( Oaxaca ), I am investigating the interrelationships
among community institutions, national policies, market integration,
and socioeconomic factors as they influence development processes
and forest transformations. Both communities have a background of
successful grassroots action to regain rights to their communal
forests from parastatal organizations. Today, they are facing new
challenges, including increasing rates of outmigration. Therefore
this research also explores the interrelationships among migration
processes, community organization and forest management. Coffee farmers' adaptations to market volatility and environmental
change in western Honduras : Export coffee production represents
a major component in the Honduran economy, and influences forest
transformation trends. Changes in world coffee markets and price
volatility are posing a challenge for coffee growers' livelihoods.
Moreover, coffee plantations are making incursions into important
watersheds and high biodiversity forests. These processes occur
in a context of climate change that is disrupting traditional expectations
of weather patterns. The study aims to understand what adaptations
appear to be most promising and sustainable for coffee producers
and the natural environment.
These projects intersect with an abiding interest in the relationships between people and protected
areas. I have conducted fieldwork in the Monarch Butterfly Reserve
in Michoacán , Mexico , and I plan to return in the future.
The study sites in Oaxaca and western Honduras have community-managed
reserves and are located near national parks. These protected areas
have become focal points for development goals and conservation efforts.
My research considers how local populations interrelate with protected
areas, and the implications for economic development, social change
and environmental conservation. The work engages the public debate
over the efficacy of protected areas to conserve natural resources.
Together, these projects and interests comprise an integrated set
for ongoing research.
Field Schools:
Heritage and Cultural Diversity in Oaxaca, Mexico
Selected Publications:
| In Press |
Tucker, C.M. J.C. Randolph, and Edwin Castellanos. Institutions, Biophysical Factors and Forest Conditions: An integrative analysis of private and communal forests in Guatemala and Honduras. Human Ecology. |
| 2006 |
Eakin, H., C.M. Tucker, and E. Castellanos. Responding to the Coffee Crisis: A pilot study of farmers' adaptations in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. The Geographical Journal 172(2):156-171 |
| 2005 |
Tucker, C.M., D. Munroe, H. Nagendra and J. Southworth. Comparative Spatial Analyses of Forest Conservation in Honduras and Guatemala. Conservation and Society 3(1):174-200. |
| 2005 |
Vanwey, L., C.M. Tucker, and E. McConnell. Community Organization, Migration and Remittances in Oaxaca. Latin America Research Review 40(1):83-106. |
| 2005 |
Tucker, C.M. and J. Southworth. Processes of Forest Change at the Local and Landscape Levels in Honduras and Guatemala. In Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Human-Environment Interactions in Forest Ecosystems, ed. Emilio F. Moran and Elinor Ostrom. Pg. 253-277. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press |
| 2004 |
Tucker, C.M. Aiming for Sustainable Community Forest Management: The Experiences of Two Communities in Mexico and Honduras . In D. Zarin, J. Alavalapati, F. E. Putz, and M. C. Schmink, eds. Working Forests in the Tropics: Conservation through Sustainable Management? Pg. 178-199. Columbia University Press. |
| 2004 |
Tucker, C. M . Land, Property Systems, and Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights A Honduran Case Study. In M. Riley, ed. Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Rights: Tools That Work . Pg. 127-152. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press. |
| 2004 |
Tucker, C.M. Community Istitutions and Forest Management in Mexico's Monarch Butterfly Reserve. Society and Natural Resources 17:69-587 |
| 2003 |
Nagendra, H., J. Southworth, and C. M. Tucker . 2003. Accessibility as a determinant of landscape transformation in Western Honduras : linking pattern and process. Landscape Ecology 18:141-158 . . |
| 2002 |
Southworth, J., H. Nagendra, and C. M. Tucker . 2002. Fragmentation of a landscape: incorporating landscape metrics into satellite analyses of land cover change. Landscape Research 27(3):253-269 . |
| 2001 |
Southworth, J. and C. M. Tucker . 2001. The roles of accessibility, local institutions and socioeconomic factors influencing forest cover change in the mountains of western Honduras . Mountain Research and Development , 21(3):276-283. |
| 2000 |
Tucker, C.M. 2000. Striving for Sustainable forest Management in Mexico and Honduras: The Experience of Two Communities. Mountain Research and Development 20(2): 116-117. |
| 1999 |
Tucker, C. M . 1999. Private vs. Communal Forests: Forest Conditions and Tenure in a Honduran Community. Human Ecology 27(2):201-230. |
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