I am an environmental anthropologist and political ecologist whose research examines agrarian and socio-ecological transformations in Amazonia and Latin America.
My work explores how land-use transitions, environmental knowledge systems, institutions, and development imaginaries shape differentiated landscape futures across frontier and post-frontier regions. Methodologically, I combine ethnographic and historical approaches with spatial analysis, surveys, and institutional analysis.
My doctoral research at the University of California, Santa Cruz examined long-term livelihood and land-system transformations along the Transamazon Highway, tracing transitions among frontier settlement, cattle ranching, sugarcane, cacao, and agroforestry systems over a fifty-year period.
Current research focuses on the emergence of “sociobioeconomy” frameworks in the Brazilian Amazon, including questions of land management, economic inclusion, climate finance, and community participation in Pará.
Additional interests include agroecology, soil knowledges, multifunctional landscapes, Indigenous and smallholder livelihoods, and applied biodiversity conservation initiatives in Colombia.
Robert Davenport 