Faculty
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Elena Bastidas, Ph.D.Assistant Professor Phone: (954) 262-3021 |
Elena has both Ph.D. and M.S. in Food & Resource Economics, with a specialization in Agricultural Development & Gender Analysis; an M.S. in Agricultural Education & Communication; and a B.S. in Food & Resource Economics from the University of Florida, UF.
Elena is a native of Ecuador, and was a Visiting Research Professor in the Center for Latin American Studies at the UF for three years. During this time she was a co-principal investigator of a John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant for training and capacity building in the protected areas of Ecuador and Colombia. She has been involved in conflict analysis & resolution as related to the conservation of biodiversity and development. During her last three years she had the opportunity to work with Social Cartography, including Conflict Maps used in a participatory way as tools to discover, analyze and offer alternatives to conflict.
Since 1997 Elena has collaborated with the Office of International Programs in the Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences at UF, she has been the Coordinator of the Galapagos Islands Educational Tour for Florida Extension Agents, and Program Director for the Ecuador Study Abroad Program.
Elena has organized, developed and presented workshops and training in the areas of conflict management, governance, quantitative & qualitative methods, and gender studies. She speaks both Spanish and English.
Her research interests include conflict analysis and resolution, economics, conservation and development, gender and development, development of appropriate technology for small farmers, livelihood systems and quantitative methods.