I was originally trained at The New York Botanical Garden's Institute of Economic Botany and I have a PhD in Plant Sciences (City University of New York), though much of my work has focused on the social aspects of human-environment relations. My theoretical interests revolve around the 'new ecologies' - notably historical, political and symbolic ecology, with a focus in cultural landscapes and indigenous knowledge.

Over the past twenty-five years I have worked extensively on a number of research and applied projects in Amazonian Peru and Bolivia, mostly with the indigenous Ese Eja. I am also interested in the role and responsibility of science in creating a more equitable, livable world, which in the case of my own work in post-colonial Latin America has entailed engaging directly with issues relating to indigenous land and resource rights and with processes of indigenous self-determination. I currently collaborate with colleagues in central Mexico to support higher education programs specifically aimed for indigenous and local communities. I am co-director of People and Plants International, where I also direct its Cultural Landscapes and Resource Rights Program.

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Selected Publications

2009. Mobility and Migration in Indigenous Amazonia: Contemporary Ethnoecological Perspectives (edited). Oxford: Berghahn. link

2009 The cultural and economic globalization of traditional environmental knowledge systems. In S. Heckler (ed). Landscape, Process and Power: Re-evaluating Traditional Environmental Knowledge. Oxford: Berghahn, p. 68-98. pdf

2009 Indigenous peoples in the popular consciousness (Comment on R.K. Dentan, Learning about Orang Asli). In:  Julian C.H. Lee (ed) The Malaysian Way of LIfe. London: Marshall Cavendish, pp. 69-70.

2005 (with P.Shanley). Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation: Case studies of Non-timber Forest Product Systems. Volume 3 - Latin America (edited). CIFOR: Bogor, Indonesia. pdf

2005 (with D.M.Peluso) Indigenous urbanization and Amazonia's post-traditional environmental economy. Traditional Settlements and Dwelling Review.  16: 7-16. pdf

2004. Ethnobotany and Globalization: Science and Ethics at the Turn of the Century. In: T. J. S. Carlson and L. Maffi, Luisa, eds. Ethnobotany and Conservation of Biocultural Diversity. Advances in Economic Botany, volume 15. Bronx, New York: The New York Botanical Gardens Press.

2003 Ethnobotany in the third millenium: expectations and unresolved issues. Delpinoa 45: 15-28.

2002 (with S.A.Laird).  Laying the Foundation: Equitable Biodiversity Relationships.  Pages 3-15, in: S. A. Laird, ed. Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge: Equitable Partnerships in Practice.  London: Earthscan.

1996. Selected Guidelines for Ethnobotanical Research: A Field Manual (edited).  Advances in Economic Botany, vol.10. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx.

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Most of my work and research has focused on the Ese Eja- a small indigenous society living on several tributaries of the Madre de Dios river basin. My doctoral thesis examined Ese Eja health related knowledge and behaviour in the context of social and ecological change. Since 2002 I have been assisting the Ese Eja map and document their history and knowledge regarding their ancestrally occupied lands, assisting them in a number of negotiations, legal claims and capacity-building processes relating to land and resource rights in these areas. Other research interests include Amazonian medicinal plants and forest products and their role in indigenous well-being and development.

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SE579: The Anthropology of Amazonia
SE802: Research Methods in Social Anthropology II
SE832: Ethnobiological Knowledge Systems
SE840: Contemporary Issues in Ethnobotany (convenor)

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Amber Abrams(Co-supervised with Daniela Peluso): 'Health seeking behaviors and medicinal practices in conservation areas in South Africa' (University of Kent 50th Anniversary Scholarship)

Joaquin Enrique Carrizosa (Co-supervised with Dr. Daniela Peluso): 'Territorio' and Place-Making in Colombian Putumayo, Amazonia (Foundation for Urban and Regional Studies Studentship Award):

Susanne Masters (Co-supervised with Dr. David Roberts): Salep: Turkey's wild orchid harvest.

Daniel Rodriguez (Co-supervised with Dr. Daniela Peluso). New Areas of Enquiry for an Anthropology of Isolated Peoples in Amazonia: An ethnographic Approach to the Transnational Dynamics of Protection in the Bi-National Frontier Region of Peru and Brazil (ESRC Studentship Quota Award)

Jan M.A. Van der Valk Tibetan medicine(s) in Europe: tracing the transformations of plants and meanings from their places of origin to the patient-healer interface (University of Kent 50th Anniversary Scholarship)

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