Student Life - 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:

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.

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.

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.