Leonardo Calzada

Geographer, Biologist, Carto-wizard and Data Enthusiast.

About Me

I am a Ph.D. student at Rutgers University and a National Geographic Explorer, studying the impacts of state-driven conservation and development interventions, such as the Mayan Train and the agroforestry program “Sembrando Vida”, on forest dynamics and local governance in the Yucatan Peninsula.

My work draws on land system science, political ecology, and spatial modeling to propose collaborative tools for analizing the interplay between human and ecological communities in tropical forests while considering local perspectives and ecological complexity.

National Geographic Explorer Profile

Education

  • Ph.D. in Geography, Present
    Rutgers University, USA

  • M.Sc. in Biological Sciences (Specialized in Integrated Ecosystem Management), 2019
    National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico

  • B.Sc. in Biology, 2015
    National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico

Research Interests

  • Land System Science
  • Political Ecology
  • Critical Agrarian Studies
  • Tropical Ecology
  • Governance
  • Remote Sensing
  • Commons
  • Data Visualization
  • Story telling