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OLIVIA DEL GIORGIO

Human Geographer and Land Use Scientist

ABOUT

PERFIL PERSONAL

I am a Human Geographer and Land Use scientist, with a background in Ecology.


My work examines the dynamics of land control, dispossession and displacement, and land-use change in regions experiencing the expansion of large-scale, commodity agriculture.

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Soy Geógrafa con formación y experiencia en Ecología. Mi disciplina de investigación dentro de la Geografía Humana es en Geografía del Ambiente y del uso sostenible de la tierra. 

Mi trabajo examina la dinámica del control de la tierra, el despojo y el desplazamiento, y el cambio de uso de la tierra en regiones que experimentan la expansión de agricultura a gran escala.


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CURRENT COLLABORATIONS

COLABORACIONES ACTUALES

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LAND, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT LAB (LENDEV)
MCGILL UNIVERSITY

The land, environment and development group is led by Yann le Polain de Waroux, and housed at the Institute for the Study of International Development and the Department of Geography at McGill University. Our research examines the role of people’s livelihood and land use choices as a nexus between social and environmental, and global and local dynamics in rural areas of the Global South.

Some questions at the center of our inquiry are:

  • How do modern agricultural frontiers emerge and expand, and can a better understanding of the decision-making of farmers pushing these frontiers help us anticipate new ones?

  •  What are the implications for land governance of growing flows of goods and capital between countries and regions?

  • What are the strategies developed by different groups of actors to cope with rapid change in frontier environments, and can we support them for greater sustainability?

https://lendev.weebly.com/

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GLOBAL LAND PROGRAMME (GLP)
SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL LAND SYSTEMS OF LATIN AMERICA (SELS) WORKING GROUP

The overall goal of the SELS working group is to generate a channel for discussion and collaboration on the understanding and defining of SELS for Latin America by contrasting and synthesizing experts’ territorial knowledge with available socio-ecological data. Our overarching aim is to contribute to the Land System Science community by generating a reference framework for analyzing patterns and processes in land science, management and planning under the umbrella of SELS in Latin America. Above all, we hope this Working Group can be a catalyst for generating new avenues and empowering the GLP community to work closely together, while expanding multidisciplinary work in the context of Socio-Ecological Land Systems.
https://glp.earth/how-we-work/working-groups/socio-ecological-land-systems-latin-america

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INSTITUTO DE ECOLOGÍA REGIONAL (IER)
UNT-CONICET- (UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE TUCUMÁN)

El IER tiene como principales objetivos:

  • Estudiar la ecología regional, de comunidades y de poblaciones en ambientes naturales, urbanos y agroecosistemas, con énfasis en el subtrópico Neotropical.

  • Divulgar al público general el conocimiento sobre la ecología y las interacciones entre naturaleza y sociedad.

  • Brindar asesoramiento para el manejo de ecosistemas y la solución de problemas ecológicos.

  • Propiciar interacciones con instituciones y personas de la región y el extranjero.

  • Promover el desarrollo sustentable y la conservación de la diversidad regional y los servicios ambientales de los ecosistemas naturales.

Grupo de trabajo: TRANSFORMACIÓN DE SISTEMAS SOCIOECOLÓGICOS EN FRONTERAS AGROPECUARIAS

Responsable: Prof. Ignacio Gasparri

https://ier.conicet.gov.ar/

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CONSERVATION BIO-GEOGRAPHY LAB
HUMBOLDT UNIVERSITY BERLIN

ReForCha - Continuous satellite-based indicators for mapping subtropical forest degradation and its environmental impacts

Using the Dry Chaco in Argentina as an example, the central objective of the ReForCha team is to develop advanced remote sensing methods and indicators to: (a) more reliably map forest degradation (e.g., via logging or forest grazing) and to separate it from forest conversion and natural disturbances (e.g., fire); (b) assess the biophysical effects of forest dynamics on soil degradation and salinization, and (c) evaluate whether the extent and severity of vegetation and soil degradation differ among actor groups and whether conservation policies are effective in mitigating degradation in dryland forests.

https://www.geographie.hu-berlin.de/en/professorships/biogeography

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DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF CORDOBA, ARGENTINA

Ecosystem services, socio-ecological conflicts, and land-use change.

Collaboration with Daniel M. Cáceres, Senior Researcher at the National Research Council (CONICET), Associate Professor at the National University of Córdoba (Argentina), and member of Núcleo DiverSus, an interdisciplinary research network on diversity and sustainability at the Latin American scale.

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NÚCLEO DIVERSUS

Resiliencia socio-ecológica ante el cambio ambiental global en territorios heterogéneos –construyendo una plataforma común para investigación y acción

Socio-ecological resilience in the face of global environmental change in heterogeneous landscapes – building a common platform for understanding and action

Project Lead: Prof. Sandra Díaz

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MCGILL SUSTAINABILITY SYSTEMS INITIATIVE (MSSI)
LANDSCAPE SCHOLAR

The mission of the MSSI Landscapes team is to develop method and tools to assess landscape sustainability around the world that take issues of scale and teleconnections into account, and to do research that improves our ability to manage landscapes for a transition to a more sustainable local and global future. 

The Landscapes Scholars (LS) cohort is creating a framework for identifying and analyzing the ecosystem services embodied in food commodity value chains and applying this framework to case studies in the USA, Central America and Tanzania.

https://www.mcgill.ca/mssi/research/research-themes/sustainable-landscapes-future

Historias del Gran Chaco
03:10
Olivia del Giorgio

Historias del Gran Chaco

El Gran Chaco es una ecorregión compuesta de bosques secos que extiende sobre más de un millón de kilómetros cuadrados entre Bolivia, Paraguay y Argentina. Es una de las regiones con las tasas mundiales más altas de deforestación para agricultura. Mientras los impactos ambientales de la deforestación a gran escala han recibido atención, se sabe poco sobre los impactos sociales de esta expansión agrícola. Mi trabajo se enfoca en examinar cómo los cambios en el control y el acceso a recursos están afectando los modos de vida de los campesinos en el Gran Chaco argentino. Las comunidades campesinas dependen del acceso a la tierra y los recursos forestales para realizar sus actividades de subsistencia. Más allá de la amenaza de su desplazamiento físico por deforestación, se están sintiendo cambios en la dinámica de control de recursos dentro de los bosques Los alambrados, los deslindes y la privatización de la tierra se están usando como formas de reclamar tierras y recursos, que se suman a la vulnerabilidad de las comunidades campesinas. Escucho a la gente, para entender cómo están cambiando sus vidas. Mi trabajo no se centra en los vacíos que quedaron donde alguna vez había árboles, pero en lo que todavía está presente. Mi trabajo de investigación cuenta sus historias. --- English The Gran Chaco eco-region of South America is a dry woodland covering more than one million square kilometers across Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. It is among the regions experiencing the highest global rates of deforestation for agriculture. While the environmental impacts of large-scale deforestation have received attention, less is known about the social impacts of this agricultural expansion. My research examines how changes in control and access to resources are affecting the livelihoods of campesinos in the Argentine Gran Chaco. Campesino communities depend on access to land and forest resources to perform their livelihood activities. Beyond the threat of physical displacement due to deforestation, changes to resource control dynamics are being felt within forested areas. Fences, forest demarcations, and land privatization are being used as ways to claim land and resources. Loss of livestock and the inability to access timber products for charcoal production are of major concern. The threats of dispossession coincide with high levels of poverty, which add to the vulnerability of campesino communities. I listen to people, to understand how their lives are changing. My research focuses not on the voids left where the trees once were, but on what is still present. My research tells their story.

CONTACT

CONTACTO

Contact Olivia to discuss her published work, projects, and collaboration opportunities, or for any other inquiries.

Póngase en contacto con Olivia para discutir sobre sus publicaciones, proyectos y oportunidades de colaboración, o para cualquier otra consulta.

Burnside Hall, McGill University
Office 321
805 Sherbrooke St W, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6

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