List of Ecological and Environmental Anthropology Faculty

The Ecological Anthropology concentration in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida provides graduate training in anthropology with an interdisciplinary focus on human interactions with the biophysical environment. The Department of Anthropology at UF is one of the top-ten ranked programs in the country. The department takes a four-field approach with a strong tradition in applied anthropology as well, with 36 faculty and 19 affiliates. The wide range of faculty research and interests in the department ensures that students receive a well rounded education in anthropology in addition to their specialization in ecological anthropology. 18 faculty participate in the Ecological Anthropology concentration. Graduate education in ecological anthropology at both the masters and Ph.D. level involves rigorous training in research design and methodology, anthropological theory and the development of professional skills. The philosophy underlying the concentration is to allow maximum flexibility in students' course of study, in consultation with their advisory committee. Thus, there are not any required courses within the concentration but students are expected to take a wide range of courses, in the anthropology department and beyond, on human-environment interactions.

Faculty research interests and expertise related to ecological anthropology include agroforestry, conservation and sustainable livelihood improvement, development and environmental change, ecology of complex societies, environmental disaster and change, ethnobiology, ethnobotany, GIS, historical ecology, human ecosystem theory, human health and the biophysical environment, hunter/gatherer ecology, land use and land cover change, non-human primate ecology, nutrition and the biophysical environment, paleoecology of early humans, archaeology and paleoenvironment, plant domestication, political ecology, remote sensing, and zooarchaeology. Geographical areas include Amazon, Andes, Caribbean, Latin America, Mesoamerica, North America, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Lab facilities include GIS/Remote Sensing, Anthropological Data Analysis, Ethnobotanical Herbarium, Southeastern U.S. Archaeology, Mesoamerican Archaeology, Visual Anthropology, and Biological Anthropology. Students also collaborate with anthropologists in the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Students are encouraged to participate in interdisciplinary centers and institutes at the University of Florida. These include the Land Use and Environmental Change Institute (LUECI), Tropical Conservation and Development Program (TCD), Institute for Archaeology and Paleoenvironmental Studies, Environmental Archaeology Program, H.T. Odum Center for Wetlands, Center for Latin American Studies, Center for Asian Studies, and the Center for African Studies among others. Also, the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) contains over 280 faculty from 49 departments and 11 colleges working on a broad range of issues of potential interest to anthropology graduate students concerned with environmental research..

Please have a look at the webpages of faculty members affiliated with the ecological anthropology concentration for more information about research opportunities. If you are interested in working with a particular faculty, feel free to contact them directly.

If you need information about the graduate program and admissions in general, you should contact Rhonda Riley in the anthropology department office. Contact info is available at the main anthropology website.

If you need more information specifically related to the concentration you can contact Richard Stepp.