Selected talks and presentations

The Anthropocene and the future of the planet

November 01, 2022

Interview, School of Ecology, Centre for Alternative Research and Studies (CARES), Mauritius

I discuss the Anthropocene notion: its genesis, development, causes, and socioecological implications amidst the present-day socioecological crisis. Watch it here.

Cuban Agroeoclogy and the Metabolic Rift: A Comparative Study of Agricultural Productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean (1961-2015)

March 21, 2021

Talk, Pacific Sociological Association's 92nd Annual Conference, Virtual

I discuss how the yield of maize and beans has increased in Cuba after 1991, following the adoption of agroecology, despite utilizing less than 70% synthetic fertilizer, on average, than in the period 1961-1990. In addition, this has been achieved in the same agricultural area, all of which points to agroecology’s potential for soil restoration and the mitigation of the metabolic rift in agriculture.

Improving soil quality: A time series comparison of agroecology and industrial agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean

August 03, 2020

Talk, Ecological Society of America, Virtual

This reserach makes a longitudinal, cross-national comparison of agricultural practices in Latin America and the Caribbean (1961-2015), examining the relationship between synthetic fertilizer use and yield, and finding that agroecology seems to have improved soil quality in Cuba, the country where this approach to food production is more widespread.