Environmental Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean

This book is a collection of readings that explore environmental issues in Latin America and the Caribbean using natural science and social science methods. These papers demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary approaches to analyze and solve environmental problems. The essays are organized into five parts: conservation challenges; national policies, local communities, and rural development; market mechanisms for protecting public goods; public participation and environmental justice; and the effects of development policies on the environment.

(a) Aldemaro Romero obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Miami (1984). Currently he is Professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Arkansas State University. He has published more than 430 pieces of work including peer-reviewed articles, articles in non-peer-reviewed publications, books, book reviews, and abstracts. He has obtained numerous research grants, as well as teaching, research, and service awards from a variety of public and private agencies in the U.S. and abroad. His main interests include, but are not limited to, biology of cave organisms (particularly fish), environmental history of marine mammals in the Caribbean, and general evolutionary issues and he has used field, laboratory, and theoretical methodologies. He is particularly interested in interesting questions in science that require an interdisciplinary approach. Homepage: http://www.clt.astate.edu/aromero/

(b) Sarah E. West received her bachelors degree from Macalester College and an MA in Latin American Studies, an MS in economics, and a PHD in economics from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on market-based incentives for the control of vehicle pollution. Her work has been published in the Journal of Public Economics, the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and the Journal of Transport Economics and Policy. She teaches courses in environmental, urban, and public economics in the Department of Economics at Macalester College and is a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research Working Group in Environmental Economics. Homepage: http://www.macalester.edu/-wests