Jim Nations is Conservation International's
Vice President for Mexico and Central America. He is a leading anthropologist
in the conservation field. Over the past 15 years, he has worked for conservation
of tropical ecosystems in Mexico, Central America, and South America. His
research has focused on the interface between human communities and protected
areas, specifically sustainable development, frontier agriculture, population
dynamics, and human exploitation of tropical forests. He lived three years
among the Lacandon Maya, a rainforest tribe in Chiapas, Mexico, two years
in the Chiapas Highlands, and three years in Guatemala. As an advisor to
Guatemala's National Council for Protected Areas, his work was instrumental
in the government's decision to establish the three million acre Maya Biosphere
Reserve. Fluent in Spanish and Yucatec Maya, he holds a Ph.D. in anthropology
from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.
Responsible Official: Dr. James L. Smoot (James.L.Smoot@nasa.gov)
Page Author: Tom Sever
Page Curator: Diane Samuelson (diane.samuelson@msfc.nasa.gov)
Jim Nations is Conservation International's
Vice President for Mexico and Central America. He is a leading anthropologist
in the conservation field. Over the past 15 years, he has worked for conservation
of tropical ecosystems in Mexico, Central America, and South America. His
research has focused on the interface between human communities and protected
areas, specifically sustainable development, frontier agriculture, population
dynamics, and human exploitation of tropical forests. He lived three years
among the Lacandon Maya, a rainforest tribe in Chiapas, Mexico, two years
in the Chiapas Highlands, and three years in Guatemala. As an advisor to
Guatemala's National Council for Protected Areas, his work was instrumental
in the government's decision to establish the three million acre Maya Biosphere
Reserve. Fluent in Spanish and Yucatec Maya, he holds a Ph.D. in anthropology
from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.