Brooke Williams

I am interested in research that may achieve conservation objectives within challenging frameworks, spatial analysis, conservation/land-use planning, and conservation ecology in general. As we look for new development opportunities in the face of land scarcity and increasing demand for agricultural products, tropical savanna has been targeted as viable sites for agro-expansion. My PhD is focusing on the effects that this expansion may have on the tropical savanna environment, and how development can occur sustainably. I am working within the Green Fire Science Lab, focusing on the Orinoquia region of Colombia as part of a broader SNAPP project through WCS. This region is rich in biodiversity, provides many ecosystem services to people, and is one of the last tropical savanna ecosystems of the world that is still in good condition. It has been described as “the last agricultural frontier of Latin America” and is currently being opened up for development. I hope that throughout my PhD I can find spatially explicit solutions to the problem of how people can benefit economically from the region while maintaining its natural capital.

Brooke's principal advisor is Professor James Watson.