吉姆拉索伊

研究焦点

James Lassoie被教育为森林树生态学家和他早期的研究，专注于温带森林树种的生态，管理和生理学。他对空气污染和酸性沉淀对森林树木的生理影响特别感兴趣，并与Boyce Thompson Institute的科学家共同工作，他多年举行了辅助科学家任命。在20世纪80年代中期，Lassoie开始改变他的研究计划，以更加关注国际环境和保护问题，可持续发展，生态旅游，社区的自然资源管理，以及树木在发展中国家和农村农村农业系统中的作用America (i.e., agroforestry). He currently studies the role of local communities and indigenous peoples in the establishment and management of parks and protected areas, sustainable natural resource management including agroforestry and ecoagriculture, and the application of interdisciplinary science to conservation. Three general questions now motivate his research. First, what are the primary ecological and social variables underpinning the decision-making process related to conservation, natural resource and environmental management, and sustainable development? Second, how can local communities become more effectively involved in such decision-making processes? And lastly, how can ‘authentic’ learning be incorporated into courses addressing conservation and sustainable development? He is particularly interested in examining coupled human and natural systems involving the management of parks, protected areas, and otherwise fragile landscapes in developing countries as well as the United States. He commonly pursues these interests by working with graduate students, many from the countries under investigation. Lassoie has served as the major advisor for 41 Masters and 25 Ph.D. students, and presently advise eight graduate students (2 Masters and 6 Ph.Ds.) with projects in Bhutan, Central America, Mali, Mexico, Nepal, and United States. He has assisted with research and development projects in many other countries including Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Sumatra, the Swazi Nation, and Zimbabwe. Lassoie and his wife, Dr. Ruth E. Sherman, worked with The Nature Conservancy between 2003 and 2004 to develop and monitor conservation strategies for parks and protected areas in Yunnan Province in south-central China. We were particularly focused on the ecological impacts of grazing and harvesting of non-timber forest products, including medicinal plants, on alpine ecosystems in northwestern Yunnan. He also helped to develop comprehensive ecological measures of success for different conservation interventions at both the project and ecoregional levels. In particular, Lassoie developed a ground-based, photo-monitoring methodology for assessing ecological changes across large ecoregions. They recently initiated new work in China with collaborators at Beijing Normal University, the Center for Mountain Ecosystem Studies, and The Nature Conservancy. His primary focus for the next five years will be to examine coupled systems in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas with collaborators at Beijing Normal University, where he currently holds an Adjunct Professor position. Lassoie also will continue to develop www.AgricultureBridge.org as a tool for connecting students and practitioners to enhance multidisciplinary experiential learning and collaborative problem-solving. This work involves collaborators at Cornell, the University of California – Berkley, and Ecoagriculture Partners (www.ecoagriculture.org).