Ximena Mesa
B.Sc. Florida International University

Thesis Project: Ecologic Resilience of the Pastaza River

Beth McCartney
B.Sc. Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Thesis Project: Water Quality in the Mara River Basin of East Africa

Marcelo Ayabaca M.Sc. May 2004
Currently Director of Research in the Ecuadorian National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology

Thesis Project: Rainfall Variability in the Upper Napo River Basin, Ecuadorian Amazon [PDF 3Mb; Appendices A-F, G-N, O-Q]

Roxanna Ayllón, M.Sc. December 2002
Currently an Associate Researcher at the Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad at the Universidad Catolica in Santiago, Chile.

Thesis Project: Evaluation of the Use and Management of Fish Resources in the Pachitea River Basin, Peruvian Amazon [PDF 0.8Mb]

Andrea Blanco, M.Sc. August 2005
Currently an environmental scientist at MACTEC

Thesis Project: The Impact of Solid and Liquid Wastes from a Rural Town on the Chorobamba River, Oxapampa, Peruvian Amazon [PDF 2.5Mb]

Publication: Blanco A & ME McClain. The impact of domestic wastewater on river water quality in the Andean Amazon of central Peru. For submission to Water Research.

Jorge Celi, M.Sc. August 2005
Currently a Ph.D. student at Michigan State University and Kellogg Biological Station

.Thesis Project: The Vulnerability of Aquatic Systems of the Upper Napo River Basin (Ecuadorian Amazon) to Human Activities [PDF 1.4Mb]

Publication: Celi J & ME McClain. Catchment Scale Development and the Health and Vulnerability of Aquatic Ecosystems of the Napo River Basin, Ecuador. For submission to Ecological Applications.

Rosa Cossío, M.Sc. December 2001
Currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida.

Thesis Project: Land Use of Riparian Zones in Two Communities in the Palcazu Basin, Central Andean Amazon, Peru [PDF 0.4Mb]

Publications: Cossio, R. 2003, Riparian Zone Land Use in Indigenous and Colonist Communities of the Palcazu Basin, Peruvian Amazon. Presented at meeting of Latin American Studies Assoc. [PDF], McClain ME and Cossio RE. 2003, The use and conservation of riparian zones in the rural Peruvian Amazon. Environmental Conservation 30: 242-248. [PDF]

Daniel Gann, M.Sc. March 2003
Currently the GIS Research Manager in the FIU GIS/Remote Sensing Center.

Thesis Project: Land-Cover Detection and Structure Analysis in the Pachitea Basin, Central Andean Amazon, Peru [PDF 4.2Mb]

Publication: Gann D & ME McClain, Landscape structure in sub-Andean valleys of the Peruvian Amazon: weighing the influences of history, culture, and access to present-day markets. For submission to Landscape Ecology.

Carlos Mena, M.Sc. December 2001
Currently Assistant Professor at Universidad San Francisco de Quito.

Thesis Project : Deforestation in the Napo Basin: Socioeconomic Factors, Metrics, and Patterns [PDF 1.5Mb]

Publication: Mena CA, R Bilsborrow & ME McClain. 2006. Socioeconomic drivers of deforestation in the Napo River Basin of Ecuador. Environmental Management 37: 802–815.[PDF]

Alejandro Rosselli, M.Sc. December 2002
Currently an environmental consultant in Bogotá, Colombia

Thesis Project : Aquatic Habitat Identification and Mapping in the Western Amazon Using Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (Etm+) Data

Publication: Rosselli A & ME McClain. In review. Aquatic Habitat Identification and Mapping in the Western Amazon Using Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (Etm+) Data . Aquatic Conservation.

Donna Sakura-Lemessy, M.Sc. August 2001
Currently Assistant Professor at Albany State University
Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center

Thesis: Utilizing Sub-Pixel Analysis to Resolve, Delineate and Map Forest Riparian Buffer Zones in the Pachitea Basin, Peru

Thomas Saunders M.Sc. May 2004
Currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida.

Thesis Project : The Biogeochemistry of Surface and Subsurface Runoff in a Small Montane Catchment of the Peruvian Amazon [PDF 1.1Mb]

Publication: Saunders TJ & ME McClain. 2006. The N and P biogeochemistry of terrestrial-aquatic flowpaths in a small montane catchment of the Peruvian Amazon. Hydrological Processes. [PDF]

Lindsey Waggoner, M.Sc. May 2006
Currently Outreach & Communication Coordinator for the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership.

Thesis Project:Land Use Controls on Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems in the Andean Amazon, Peru [PDF 1.2 Mb]