About

I am an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, and a recent Fulbright Scholar within the African Regional Research Program.   

I have interdisciplinary academic training spanning the social and natural sciences, and a love for teaching students to think critically about environmental problems and solutions. 

Pulling from multiple fields of study including human geography, conservation biology, environmental policy, and gender studies, my research broadly explores how different natural resource management strategies influence biodiversity conservation as well as who gains access to and control over natural resources. 

My book, titled Feminist Conservation: Politics and Power in Madagascar's Marine Commons is now out!

My current research is oriented towards building a framework to quantify and qualify feedbacks within reef-based, marine, socio-ecological systems.  More specifically, the work investigates the relationship between ecosystem health (fish abundance, diversity, and size), fisheries targets (species and fishing intensity), and community engagement (the proportion and identity of individuals involved in monitoring, enforcing, or decision-making) in Madagascar.

I received my PhD in environmental science, policy and management from the University of California Berkeley, and my BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Smith College.  I have had the good fortune of working with a great diversity of international and US-based organizations focused on conservation and sustainable development. Experience working on solutions to immediate problems has deeply influenced my research as well as my teaching. With support from the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Program, UC Berkeley's Center for Race and Gender, and the Rocca Fellowship for African Studies, I have collaborated with numerous organizations to find ways to balance conservation and development goals, and to make natural resource management more ecologically effective as well as socially just.

Prior to coming to Middlebury College, I worked with international conservation organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society, Conservation International, and the World Wildlife Fund as well as community-based organizers based in Madagascar, South Africa, Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Find me: @bakermedard