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kathleen hilimire

Ph.D. Student
Environmental Studies Dept, UC Santa Cruz

B.A. Political Ecology, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA

 

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Research interests: My research focuses on agricultural landscapes that are managed as semi-natural spaces. In  general, I am interested in analyzing the environmental and social impacts of these agroecosystems. The environmental impacts I study are biodiversity of plants, presence of native plants, and soil quality. Social impacts I study are livelihood persistence, open space preservation, and changing rural cultures. Semi-natural agricultural landscapes have the potential to serve some of the same roles as natural ecosystems, strengthen rural social fabric, as well as produce food. Understanding how well a particular agroecosystem is able to balance provision of these environmental and social services is critical to assessing the sustainability of its agricultural management. 

Contact Kathleen Hilimire by email: khilimir@ucsc.edu