Andrea Chavez

Ph.D. candidate – Geography

3141 Turlington Hall, Office 324
PO Box 117315
University of Florida

(352) 392-3198 ext. 207

Background:
I was born in Lima, Peru and have been spending part of my life between Germany and Peru. I graduated in 1994 from the University of Miami, FL with an M.A. in Geography, and graduated from the University of Heidelberg, in 1995 Germany with a Magister Artium (M.A.) in Political Science, Geography and International Law. Between 1998-2000 I was a Visiting Scholar at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, NY.

Since August 2001, I have been pursuing the doctoral degree program in Geography at the University of Florida with a strong emphasis on the research of land use and land cover change using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Between my master and doctorate degree I have been working with different organizations in Peru and Germany. I have been concerned with the process of setting aside and managing protected areas under complex scenarios of the land in question, the changing ecosystem, people?s concern and the politics implemented. Presently, my research question at the University of Florida analyzes the socio-spatial impact of roads as measured through changes in land-cover and land uses (social and biophysical factors) leading to deforestation. Besides my work at school I try to spend time hiking, traveling, and dancing.

Research Project:
Land Conservation along the Transoceanic Road Inapari – Iberia: A Socio-Spatial Study of Road Extension and Forest Fragmentation.