Vita | Courses Taught | Selected Publications | Selected Projects

Dr. Amanda Stronza Assistant Professor Francis Hall 308 979-845-8931 astronza@tamu.edu Education                                                                              B.A., International Affairs, George Washington University, 1989 M.A., Latin American Studies, University of Florida, 1995 Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Florida, 2000

Specialty Community-based conservation; applied biodiversity sciences, ecotourism; environmental anthropology, ethnographic research; Amazon Co-Director, NSF-IGERT: Applied Biodiversity Sciences: Bridging Ecology, Culture, and Governance for Effective Conservation.  http://biodiversity.tamu.edu PI, NSF grant: "Cross-Cultural Analysis of Community Participation in Ecotourism"  www.rpts.tamu.edu/css/ Research Direction My research focuses on collective action for conservation.  My goal is to understand the conditions under which individuals come together as groups to protect what they value—whether it be a piece of land, a species, a watershed, a cultural tradition, or a way of life. In places where community conservation has been effective, I look for catalyzing factors that first sparked collective action and then motivated sustained cooperation. I focus on how parks, wilderness areas, and tourism destinations provide incentives and sources of inspiration for community conservation.  My research questions are: Under what conditions does ecotourism effectively protect biodiversity while also benefiting local communities? How do conservation programs influence the ways in which people interact with and value nature? Conversely, how do cultural values influence conservation? How do encounters between tourists and locals shape perceptions of identity and culture? Other Professional Experience Lang Postdoctoral Fellow, Anthropological Sciences, Stanford, 2000-2002 Director, Summer Discovery Institute for Environmental Studies, Stanford, 2002 Advisor, Center for Ecotourism and Sustainable Development Member, Board of Directors, Global Explorers (http://www.globalexplorers.org) Consultant: Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, The International Ecotourism Society, Institute for Culture and Ecology Dr. Stronza is a team member of Sustainable Tourism Systems, a laboratory of the RPTS department. STS serves as an international center for excellence in educational training and research in sustainable development. Awards                                                                                                                            Montague-Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar 2006-2007 NSF IGERT-Applied Biodiversity Science Program - Funding opportunity for Graduate Students Return to Faculty