Susanna Hecht
Encyclopedia
Susanna B. Hecht is an American geographer
and a professor of Urban Planning
at UCLA. Her early work on the deforestation
of the Amazon led to the founding of the subfield of political ecology
. This subfield of geography embraces sociology
, economics
, history
, literature
, ecology
, environmental studies
and a wide variety of other fields in an effort to paint a more intricate picture of a particular geographic region and the influence it has on the world around it as well as how the world impacts the region. The Amazon rain forest is her primary subject of inquiry and she is the co-author of the watershed book, Fate of the Forest: Destroyers, Developers and Defenders of the Amazon with Alexander Cockburn
, originally published in 1990, but which has been updated and reissued by the University of Chicago Press in 2010. In 2004, Fate of the Forest was named one of the most influential books in cultural geography by the American Association of Geography. The book has become a classic text in environmental studies, and has won numerous awards. She is widely considered a preeminent authority on forest transition
and sustainable agriculture
. In addition to her academic work, she has also written popular articles for the Nation, New Left Review
and Fortune Magazine.
Hecht received her A.B. from the University of Chicago
and her Ph.D. in Geography
from the University of California, Berkeley
. She was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim fellowship in 2008 and has received fellowships and grants from NASA
, the National Science Foundation
, The Pew Charitable Trust, the MacArthur Foundation
, The Ford Foundation
, and many others. She has also been a resident fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study
in Princeton and the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University
.
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
and a professor of Urban Planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
at UCLA. Her early work on the deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
of the Amazon led to the founding of the subfield of political ecology
Political ecology
Political ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes. Political ecology differs from apolitical ecological studies by politicizing environmental issues and phenomena....
. This subfield of geography embraces sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
, environmental studies
Environmental studies
Environmental studies is the academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. It is a broad interdisciplinary field of study that includes the natural environment, built environment, and the sets of relationships between them...
and a wide variety of other fields in an effort to paint a more intricate picture of a particular geographic region and the influence it has on the world around it as well as how the world impacts the region. The Amazon rain forest is her primary subject of inquiry and she is the co-author of the watershed book, Fate of the Forest: Destroyers, Developers and Defenders of the Amazon with Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Claud Cockburn is an American political journalist. Cockburn was brought up in Ireland but has lived and worked in the United States since 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edits the political newsletter CounterPunch...
, originally published in 1990, but which has been updated and reissued by the University of Chicago Press in 2010. In 2004, Fate of the Forest was named one of the most influential books in cultural geography by the American Association of Geography. The book has become a classic text in environmental studies, and has won numerous awards. She is widely considered a preeminent authority on forest transition
Forest transition
Forest transition refers to a geographic theory describing a reversal or turnaround in land-use trends for a given territory from a period of net forest area loss to a period of net forest area gain....
and sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is the practice of farming using principles of ecology, the study of relationships between organisms and their environment...
. In addition to her academic work, she has also written popular articles for the Nation, New Left Review
New Left Review
New Left Review is a 160-page journal, published every two months from London, devoted to world politics, economy and culture. Often compared to the French-language Les Temps modernes, it is associated with Verso Books , and regularly features the essays of authorities on contemporary social...
and Fortune Magazine.
Hecht received her A.B. from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and her Ph.D. in Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. She was awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim fellowship in 2008 and has received fellowships and grants from NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, The Pew Charitable Trust, the MacArthur Foundation
MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
, The Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
, and many others. She has also been a resident fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton and the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Recent Publications
- Susanna Hecht, 2008, Kayapo Savanna Management: Fire, Soils and Reforestation in a Threatened Biome. W. Woods (Ed). Amazon Soils: Essays in Honor of Wim Sombroek, Berlin. Springer Verlag
- Susanna Hecht, 2007, Globalization and Forest Recovery in Inhabited Landscapes. Bioscience Vol 57(8) 663-672
- Susanna Hecht, 2007, Forests, Fields and Family: Women and Children in the Extractive Economies of Acre, Brazil, Journal of Agrarian Change. Vol 7 (3) 316-347
- Susanna Hecht, 2006, Forest Resurgence, Social Process and Environmental Politics in El Salvador. World Development Vol 34 (2) 308-323. (with S. Kandel, H. Rosa, I. Gomes, N. Cuellar)
- Susanna Hecht, 2005, Soybean Production, Development and Conservation on an Amazon Frontier. Development and Change, V. 36 (2) 375-404
- Susanna Hecht, 2004, The Last Unfinished Page of Genesis: Euclides da Cunha and the Amazon. Historical Geography Vol 2:43-69.
- Susanna Hecht, 2004, Indigenous Soil Management and the Creation of Amazonian Dark Earths: Implications of Kayapo Practices in Johannes Lehman (Ed) Amazonian Dark Earths: Origins, Properties and Management of Fertile Soils in the Humid Tropics, Kluwer. Dorecht, pp. 355-373.