Roger and Cynthia Lang Professor in Environmental Anthropology
Lisa M. Curran is an ecologist interested in the mechanisms that underlie community structure and dynamics of tropical forests and how ecological interactions are altered by human activities. Her work aims to enhance equitable and responsible management of tropical forests by integrating knowledge of ecological processes in natural systems with the socio-political and economic realities as viewed by a diversity of users.
Dr. Curran's field research, primarily in Indonesian Borneo, has focused on long-term studies of the reproductive ecology, demography, and harvest of mast-fruiting Dipterocarpaceae, the most economically important family of tropical timber. She spent more than 20 years in the South and Southeast Asian tropics in several countries conducting research and holding a variety of positions for several foundations and non-governmental conservation organizations as well as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Man and Biosphere Programme (UNESCO-MAB Indonesia). In addition, she served as a consultant within multi-disciplinary teams for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. She also served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Wildlife and Climate Change Panel and served as an advisor to the Clinton Administration prior to the Kyoto Climate Change meetings.
Dr. Curran's current research interests include investigations in both Asia and the Brazilian Amazon on: the extent of natural and anthropogenic processes and disturbance, including the effects of land use change, on carbon dynamics and biodiversity; plant-animal interactions and the impacts of hunting; and effects of multi-sectoral governmental policies and logging practices on ecosystem management and rural livelihoods in tropical frontiers.