Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Rise of Remote Sensing in Conservation in the Peten, Guatemala

总结：加州大学圣克鲁斯人类学博士生Micha Rahder将在Andrew马修斯博士的指导下，对遥感和地理信息系统科学在危地马拉玛雅生物圈保护区森林养护中的作用进行研究。 卫星图像等遥感技术，沿着能够分析复杂的多尺度空间数据的地理信息系统计算机程序，正在成为全球保护工具箱中的关键工具。 该项目将调查遥感和地理信息系统促成的科学知识的产生，以及自然资源保护者在应用中使用和转化这些知识的方式。 兰德斯的研究将解决以下中心问题：1）什么样的政治和物质影响遥感和地理信息系统在佩滕，以及人们如何生产，使用，或被描述这些科学与这些影响搏斗？ 2)这些技术如何融入自然景观和社会差异的生产？ 3)随着遥感和地理信息系统技术在危地马拉保护方面的兴起，沿着出现了哪些新的监测站或合作可能性？ 这些问题将通过在多个地理和机构空间进行为期12个月的人种学研究来解决，包括遥感科学家和保护实践者的参与观察;与科学家，保护主义者和当地社区成员的深入访谈;以及遥感报告和出版物的档案分析。 智力价值：本项目将通过审查西半球最贫穷的发展中国家之一的科学知识生产，为科学技术研究作出重大的理论贡献。这项研究还将有助于对保护实践的政治，制图学的研究和地方感的讨论的讨论。 更广泛的影响：项目成果将跨学科交流，并与在玛雅生物圈保护区工作的保护组织进行交流，鼓励人类学家、科学家和保护工作者在解决全球保护问题方面开展合作。

Summary: Micha Rahder, doctoral student in Anthropology at the University of California Santa Cruz, under the guidance of Dr. Andrew Mathews, will conduct research on the role of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) sciences in forest conservation in Guatemalans Maya Biosphere Reserve. Remote sensing technologies, such as satellite imagery, along with GIS computer programs that can analyze complex multi-scalar spatial data, are emerging as key instruments in the global conservation toolbox. This project will investigate the production of scientific knowledge enabled by remote sensing and GIS, and the ways in which this knowledge is used and transformed in application by conservationists. Randers research will address the following central questions: 1) What political and material effects do remote sensing and GIS have in the Petén, and how do the people producing, using, or being described by these sciences grapple with these effects? 2) How do these technologies figure into the production of Natural landscapes and social difference? 3) What new possibilities for contestation or collaboration are emerging along with the rise of remote sensing and GIS technologies in Guatemalan conservation? These questions will be addressed through twelve months of ethnographic research in multiple geographic and institutional spaces, including participant observation among remote sensing scientists and conservation practitioners; in-depth interviews with scientists, conservationists, and local community members; and archival analysis of remote sensing reports and publications. Intellectual Merit: This project will make a significant theoretical contribution to science & technology studies by examining scientific knowledge production in one of the most impoverished developing countries in the Western hemisphere. The research will also contribute to discussions on the politics of conservation practice, studies of cartography, and discussions of senses of place. Broader Impacts: Project results will be communicated across disciplines and to conservation organizations working in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, encouraging collaboration between anthropologists, scientists, and conservation practitioners in addressing global conservation issues.