PhD Students - Bethany Haalboom
DUML, BRL 309
135 Duke Marine Lab Road
Beaufort, NC 28516-9721
Phone: 252-504-7644
Fax: 252-504-7648
Email: bjh14@duke.edu
Research Interests:
- Human and environment interactions
- Indigenous peoples
- Parks and protected areas
- Community based conservation
- Social movements
- Conservation policy
- Political ecology
- International development
- Qualitative methods
Education:
- M.A. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University
- B.A. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University
Bio:
My research is situated at the interface of politics and
human-environment interactions. I am particularly interested in the
impacts of environmental change and conservation programs on
marginalized groups and how these groups view, respond, and/or adapt to
these situations. My dissertation research examines how indigenous
peoples in Suriname (a former Dutch colony located in the Amazon Basin)
are dealing with existing or proposed protected areas being established
on their traditional lands. From a global environmental perspective,
Suriname is considered a prime area for establishing protected areas
and is under a significant amount of pressure to do so based on its
location within the Amazon region and the fact that approximately
80-90% of its land area remains forested. However, many tribal groups
including a number of indigenous communities reside within or near
protected areas in Suriname and continue to use these lands for
hunting, fishing and gathering in addition to the cultural and
spiritual values attributed to them. I explore the process of how these
communities are responding to conservation actors and activities by
focusing on 1) the national and transnational networks they engage with
including indigenous support organizations and intergovernmental bodies
that provide information and trainings about indigenous rights to
support communities’ land rights claims; 2) the uptake and use of
particular discourses that strategically align with or run counter to
outside actors’ agendas and 3) the political climate of the national
indigenous rights movement and the organizational dynamics that play
out within that setting. Overall I hope that this research can
contribute to a better understanding of the complex array of factors
shaping indigenous peoples’ views about conservation and protected
areas and the critical role that they play in the management of
environmental resources.
Awards:
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship Award (SSHRC), 2006 ($40,000)
- Mellon Foundation Travel Grant, Latin American Studies, Duke University, 2005 ($500)
- Oak Foundation Fellowship for Conservation Biology and Policy on behalf of the Division of Coastal Systems Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment, 2004 ($8,000)
- Geography Departmental Scholarship, McMaster University, 2000-2002 ($15,000)
- Entrance Scholarship, McMaster University, 1996 ($3,000)-declined
Publications:
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Campbell, L.M., Haalboom, B.J., and Trow, J. 2007. "Sustainability of Community-Based Conservation: sea turtle egg harvesting in Ostional, (Costa Rica), ten years later." Environmental Conservation 34(2): 122-131.
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Haalboom, B.J., Elliott, S., Eyles, J., Muggah, H. 2006. "The Risk Society at Work in the Sydney Tar Ponds," The Canadian Geographer 50(2): 145-272.
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Haalboom, B.J., Robinson, K.L., Elliott, S.J., Cameron, R., Eyles, J. 2006. "Research as Intervention in (Heart) Health Promotion," Canadian Journal of Public Health 97(4): 291-295.
Hobbies:
Long-distance running, swimming, travel, watching independent and
classic films, and drinking strong coffee.


