Mountain Communities Conference 2005: Speakers

Jennifer Lipton

Jennifer Lipton is a PhD candidate in geography at the University of Texas at Austin. She works with Kenneth Young investigating human dimensions of land cover change and protected area management in mountain areas in Peru. Her study integrates geospatial analysis and grounded field knowledge to bridge the biophysical and social aspects of conservation goals. Research for her masters degree on the Talamanca Biological Corridor in Costa Rica revealed that the strength of spatially and temporally extensive conservation designs is in the social capital that is developed between formal and informal institutions focused on land and resource management. Prior to her academic endeavours, Jennifer worked at a landscape architecture firm in Seattle and enjoyed the mountains and waterways of the Pacific Northwest.