Andrés M. Urcuqui-Bustamante, PhD
2023 B2F Scholar
Urban Planning and Policy
Pronouns: He/Him
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About
Andrés M. Urcuqui-Bustamante is a postdoctoral research associate in the School of Forest Resources at the University of Maine and a visiting instructor in the Department of Environmental Studies at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF). He currently works on developing a collaborative modeling approach to explore ways to address tick-borne diseases through forest and landscape management practices. The collaborative modeling approach involves an agent-based model of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) ecology and a role-play simulation (policy game) of a hypothetical pest management plan. The agent-based model allows stakeholders to test different parameters and factors that may inhibit blacklegged tick populations. The role-play simulation promotes discussions between stakeholders about potential pest management practices, contributes to social learning and encourages policy innovation. Urcuqui-Bustamante’s aim is to engage a broad range of stakeholders in understanding how different landscape and forest management practices impact blacklegged tick populations and tick-borne pathogen prevalence.
Urcuqui-Bustamante has conducted environmental science and social science research in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas in the United States, Mexico, and Colombia. His work explores the interconnections between nature, society, and policy through the lens of human dimensions of natural resources. Urcuqui-Bustamante’s research interests are located within the fields of environmental management, environmental governance, water and environmental policy, public participation in decision-making, environmental conflict and collaboration, environmental justice, and public health and emerging diseases. He has worked with urban and rural communities in the US and Latin America, small landowners in the coffee regions of Colombia and Mexico, Indigenous communities in the Amazon, environmental non-profit organizations, and government agencies.
Urcuqui-Bustamante holds a PhD in Environmental Science from SUNY ESF, a MS in Rural Development from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogota, Colombia), a MS in Management and Conservation of Biodiversity from CEU San Pablo (Madrid, Spain), and a BS in Environmental Management from Universidad Autónoma de Occidente (Cali, Colombia).