Short Bio:
Costa Rican, age 26. Born may 2, 1981 in Gainesville, Fl., but have lived in Costa Rica since age 1. My father is Costa Rican and my mother is from Peru. I got my bachelor’s degree in geography at the University of Costa Rica, and soon after that I enrolled in the natural resource management program at the State Distance University also in Costa Rica. I am currently pursuing a master’s degree in geography at the University of Miami thanks to a scholarship awarded. I’m currently in my last semester in the program.
My interests are varied, but I am particularly interested in the study of nature-society interactions, mainly understanding the drivers of land-use/land-cover changes around protected area buffer zones, which to me are key areas that more conspicuously epitomize the conservation versus development clashes and from where more understanding can be gained. I’m also very interested in the cultural perceptions of the environment and how those perceptions manifest in space.

• Nature-society relationships, particularly the study of the driving forces of land-use and land-cover changes along protected area buffer zones and the various biophysical, socioeconomic and ecological effects of those changes on the protected areas as well as on adjacent communities dependent on those areas. Furthermore, I’m interested in political ecology issues, particularly the spatial and temporal manifestations of political economic structural forces. Finally, I’m also very interested in remote sensing and GIS applications in general.

• I’ve worked as a volunteer in several protected areas in Costa Rica, helping in planning tasks and also served as an assistant in a urban ecology course taught at the University for Peace in Costa Rica.

•  “Landscape structure dynamics in the Monteverde-Nicoya biological corridor, Costa Rica: a temporal analysis using landscape metrics”, and

• “Ecotourism as a driving force of land-use and land-cover change in the buffer zone of the Monteverde Biological Reserve, Costa Rica”, both presented at the Neotropic Foundation in San José, Costa Rica. October 2007.

• Reading about Native American philosophy/spirituality, hiking, mountain biking, animal rights activism, basketball, guitar and singing.

• Espinoza Resume