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My research interests center on community natural resource management in Latin America and the relationships between grassroots organizations and ecosystems.  My current principal research project is on Community Tropical Ecosystem Management (CTEM) in central Quintana Roo, Mexico, but I also maintain research and writing activities on the social and organizational dimensions of organic coffee production and other aspects of natural resource management in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. 

The community tropical forest management project is conceived as a research/action project in association with the Organizacion de Ejidos Productores Forestales de la Zona Maya, Quintana Roo (OEPFZM), a 23-community organization, mostly of Yucatec Mayan Indians, based in Felipe Carillo Puerto, Quintana Roo. I am working with the OEPFZM  on strategic planning and adaptive management issues in making the transition from forest managment primarily for mahogany (swietenia macrophylla) to a broader vision and practice of ecosystem management.  The OEPFZM is one of a family of community forestry organizations in Quintana Roo, collectively known as the Plan Piloto.

Participatory Community Mapping Reports

CTEM Theses

The CTEM project has produced two master's theses to date with several more forthcoming. 

The first is by Christine Cairns on the problems of stingless bees and traditional beekeeping in Quintana Roo.  The entire thesis, Effects of  Invasive Africanized Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera Scutellata) on Native Stingless Bee Populations (Meliponinae) and Traditional Mayan Beekeeping In Central Quintana Roo, Mexico is available for download in .pdf format.

The second is by Alexis Racelis and is on the social and ecological dimensions of agroforestry in Quintana Roo, Mexico.  The entire thesis, Policies, Pests, and Unplanned Biodiversity: Interactions between Social and Ecological Dimensions of Agroforestry Projects in Central Quintana Roo, Mexico. 

Another masters thesis on forest management issues in Quintana Roo was done by David Shoch of Duke University.  The entire thesis An ecological and economic evaluation of railroad tie harvest in the ejido Xpichil, Quintana Roo, Mexico is available in .pdf format.

Memoria of research workshop held in Felipe Carillo Puerto, Quintana Roo on August 1, 2003 

This workship presents the preliminary results of recent research carried out with the Organizacion de Ejidos Productores Forestales de la Zona Maya (OEPFZM).