Leading Researchers
Active Projects
LuLu Lacy
Ph.D Candidate
Fish Migration as a Social-Ecological Process
Using participatory and biocultural approaches, this project involves working with riparian human communities, particularly Indigenous fishers, to co-produce a seasonal calendar as a tool to explore social-ecological rhythms and change in the Lagos de Yahuarcaca, Colombian Amazon.
Tania Romero
Ph.D Candidate
Freshwater Governance in the Peruvian Amazon
Using ethnographic and participatory research approaches, this research models local social-ecological systems, documents community identities, and maps community assets as linked to freshwater systems in Loreto, Peru. It also includes an analysis of the institutional framework for freshwater governance in the Peruvian Amazon and its alignment with riparian human communities’ interests.
Juan Sebastian Lozano
Ph.D candidate
Dynamics of Amazon River floodplains
Combining hydrological, ecological, and economic approaches, this work analyzes recent flooding patterns, explores long-term change in floodplain forests, and estimates the economic value of floodplain forests in the Western Amazon. It aims to understand change over time in response to environmental and anthropogenic drivers.
Stephannie Fernandes
Ph.D student
Transboundary Freshwater Governance in the Amazon
Her research employs a mixed-methods approach to assess the political ecology of freshwater resources. She is particularly interested in examining the social-ecological dynamics of the Amazon Basin and analyzing different strategies for implementing and improving public policies aimed at safeguarding freshwater ecosystems and associated biodiversity.
Fiorella Briceño
Postdoctoral Researcher, Peru
Drought in the Amazon: Social-Ecological Consequences
In 2023, the Amazon experienced its most severe drought on record over the past ~100 years. Our research explores the consequences of extreme low water conditions for riparian human communities along the triple frontier between Peru-Colombia-Brazil, and strategies for adaptation to future extreme events.
La Ruta de Pesca de los Grandes Bagres Amazónicos
In collaboration with Vanessa Rodriguez, this effort aims to understand migration patterns, population change, and local management of large Amazonian catfishes, through the knowledge and lived experiences of fishers along the Amazon River in Loreto, Peru.
Juliana Laufer
Postdoctoral Researcher
Social-Ecological Context for Freshwater Conservation
Using a co-production approach, this effort aims to evaluate the various aspects that influence the management, governance, and conservation of Amazon freshwaters along the Triple-Frontier of Peru, Colombia, and Brazil, with a focus on fish and fisheries.
Collaborators
Active Projects
The Amazon Waters Initiative
Our team is part of the Amazon Waters Initiative, which aims to co-produce and compile knowledge about fish and aquatic ecosystems with riparian human communities across the Amazon Basin. We ask: Where and when do fish migrate in the Amazon? And, what are the environmental conditions associated with those migrations, especially water quality and water quality?
As part of this effort, we are collaborating with a conservation technology start-up, Conservify, and numerous Amazonian communities on the design and implementation of a low-cost, high-tech monitoring kit that measures water quality, water level, and climatic conditions. Simultaneously, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has adapted their eBird platform to allow for tracking of fishes, through a new application called ICTIO. Overall, these efforts aim to improve scientific understanding of Amazonian freshwater systems, drawing on the local knowledge and observations of thousands of people across the Amazon.
Global Importance of Amazon Freshwaters
The importance of Amazonian freshwater systems and the consequences of their ongoing alteration (e.g., by dams, road crossings, climate change) transcends the boundaries of the Amazon Basin. However, critical linkages between Amazonian freshwater systems and global climate, the ocean, economies, and social-ecological systems, remain largely unquantified. This collaborative effort aims to examine the contributions of Amazonian freshwaters to global environmental, social, and economic systems, and examine how factors external to the Amazon can influence both the transformation and the protection of Amazonian freshwater ecosystems.
Importance of Andes-to-Amazon river connectivity
The Andean Amazon region is a global center of species richness and endemism across many taxonomic groups, and its rivers provide vital connections between high elevation areas of the Andes and the lowland Amazon. For example, Andean Amazon rivers supply massive quantities of sediments, nutrients, and organic matter to the lowland Amazon, while also acting as pathways for movement of migratory fishes. Andean origin rivers also factor into cosmologies of many Amazonian peoples; many indigenous groups recognize important cultural features of rivers that connect them with ancestors. Tropical Rivers Lab's research explores the many facets of Andes-to-Amazon linkages using both ecological and social science approaches.
