Who We Are

Gabriela Valdivia is Assistant Professor in the geography department at UNC. She draws on political ecology approaches and critical resource geography to examine environmental governance in the Andean-Amazon region.

Flora Lu is Associate Professor in Environmental Studies at UCSC. Since 1992, she has conducted research in ecological anthropology with Waorani, Quichua, Shuar, Secoya and Cofán communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon, examining household economics, social organization and resource use.

Angus Lyall is a doctoral student in Geography at UNC. His research investigates the urbanization of the Ecuadorian Amazon through the establishment of Millennium Cities.

Courtney Scoggin is an undergraduate student in Geography at UNC. Courtney is working with a dataset collected in January-May 2014 about socioeconomic conditions, environmental perceptions, and perceptions of well-being in Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Courtney and Professor Valdivia are currently working on a manuscript based on this research.

Carrie Hamilton is an undergraduate student in Geography at UNC. Carrie received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) award to support her 2015 summer research in Ecuador, where she is conducting an independent project on “Oil Drilling and Industry in Kichwa Communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon.”

Kathia Toledo is an undergraduate student at UNC. She is a Geography and Environmental Studies double major with an Urban Planning minor. Kathia received funding from Increasing Diversity and Enhancing Academia (IDEA), through the National Science Foundation and the Institute for the Environment at UNC, to research health and perceptions of well-being in relation to the refinery in Esmeraldas, Ecuador.