Dr. Andrea M. Cuéllar

BA in Anthropology (1997) from the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, Graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies, M.A., and Ph.D. in Anthropology (2006) from the University of Pittsburgh in the US. I joined the University of Lethbridge in 2006 and the Prentice Institute in the Fall of 2022, where I lead our Work Integrated Learning program and initiatives related to internationalization and community partnerships, fostering applied learning and research collaborations locally and internationally. My research in the Ecuadorian Upper Amazon has been centered on understanding long-term human-environment relations with a focus on forest management and agroforestry, land use history, and human-mediated ecological dynamics linked to food systems from a historical ecology perspective. In the past year my research activities have been focused on establishing a multi-sectoral research program centered on Indigenous-led land-planning and socioecological restoration that involves the collaboration of three Indigenous organizations across the Americas (the Kainai Ecosystems Protection Association of the Blackfoot Nation, the Mesoamerican Permaculture Institute of the Kaqchiquel Maya of Guatemala, and Sacha Awana of the Quijos Nation of Ecuador). This work provides a platform for the training of Indigenous students through land-based WIL opportunities, support for the research capacity of the three Indigenous organizations, and collaboration with various academic institutions abroad. Through a recently awarded SSHRC Destination Horizon grant (Biodiversity Management and Food Security through Culturally Grounded Socioecological Restoration), the research team is building collaborations with European institutions.