I. Foster Brown

I. Foster Brown
Senior Scientist
Woods Hole Research Center
149 Woods Hole Road
Falmouth, MA 02540-1644
Phone: 508-540-9900 x143
Fax: 508-540-9700

Education

Ph.D. - Northwestern University
1981, Department of Geological Sciences

M.S. - Northwestern University
1979, Department of Geological Sciences

B.A. - Amherst College
1973, Independent Scholar

Professional Experience

  • 1987 - present: Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center
  • 1996 - present: Professor, Graduate Program in Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Federal University of Acre (UFAC), Rio Branco, Brazil
  • 1981 - 2002: Associate Professor, Graduate Program in Geochemistry, Federal Fluminense University (UFF), Niteroi, RJ, Brazil

Research Interests

Research interests center on on what constitutes and how to attain sustainable development in the Amazon Basin; coordinates the Research Center's program dealing with deforestation, water quality, and land use in the Brazilian Amazon and directs the program for human resource development in Third World countries.

Recent publications

Brown, I.F., K. Kainer, A.S. Alechandre, and E.F. do Amaral, 2001. The role of extractive reserves in the biogeochemistry of the Amazon basin. In: McClain, M., R. Victoria, and J. Richey. (eds.) The Biogeochemistry of the Amazon Basin. Oxford University Press, New York. 122-138.

Brown, I.F. 1997. Let the people judge: community examining boards help students learn to communicate. Bull. Ecological Society of America, July: 210-211.

Brown, I.F., A. Alechandre, H.S.Y. Sassagawa and M. A. de Aquino. 1995. Empowering local communities in land-use management: The Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre, Brazil. Cultural Survival Quarterly. Winter: 54-57.

Brown, I.F., B. Turcq, and A. Alechandre. 1995. Teaching concepts of accuracy, precision, and opportunity cost in environmental sciences: arms, legs, and significant figures. Ciéncia e Cultura 47 (1/2): 41-44.

Brown, I.F., D. Irvine, T. Macdonald, N. Gonzalez and I. Bastidas. 1992. Applications of geochemistry and training programs for indigenous land-use planning in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Interciéncia 17(5): 284-292.

Brown, I.F. S. Brilhante, E. Mendoza, and I. Oliveira. 2002. The highway from Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil to Pacific ports: How to maximize the benefits and minimize the adverse impacts for sustainable development of southwestern Amazonia. Encuentro Internacional de Intergracion Regional - Bolívia, Brasil y Peru. Arequipa, Peru, 2 a 4 de setembro de 2001 Editora CEPEI (Centro Peruano de Estudios Internacionales) Lima. In Portuguese.

Nepstad, D.C., C.A. Klink, C. Uhl, I.C. Vieira, P. Lefebvre, M. Pedlowski, E. Matricardi, G. Negreiros, I.F. Brown, E. Amaral, A. Homma, and R. Walker. 1997. Land-use in Amazonia and the Cerrado. Ciéncia e Cultura 49 (1/2): 73-86.

Carvalho, F.M.M. and I.F. Brown. 1996. Polarization of biotic and economic wealth: the world, the tropics, and Brazil. International Journal of Environment and Pollution 6(2): 160-171.

Brown, I.F., L. Martinelli, W. Thomas, M.Z. Moreira, C.A.C. Ferreira, and R.A. Victoria. 1995. Uncertainty in the biomass of Amazonian forests: an example from Rondônia, Brazil. Forest Ecology and Management 75: 175-189.

Brown, I.F., D.C. Nepstad, I. Pires, L. Luz and A. Alechandre. 1992. Carbon storage and land-use in extractive reserves, Acre, Brazil. Environmental Conservation. 19(4): 307- 315.

Synergistic activities

  • Chair of the Scientific Committee of the fourth meeting of the Madre de Dios,Peru-Acre,Brasil-Pando, Bolivia (MAP-IV) Region, August 2003.
  • Member of the Working Group for establishing the University of the Forest in Acre State.
  • Coordinator of the NASA-sponsored LBA-ECO project “Land-cover land-use changes in the tri-frontier area of Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru: implications for sustainable land use in southwestern Amazonia, LC-02.”
  • Member of the Brazilian Committee on Education for the Large-Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). 1996-2000.
  • Invited by the Brazilian Ministry of National Integration to speak at a workshop for the National Plan for Territorial Administration, Brasilia, November 2003.
  • Invited by the U.S. Agency for International Development to speak at the Annual Meeting of the Environmental Program, Brasilia, November 2003.
  • Invited to participate in the planning meeting of the Consortium of Municipalities along the Bolivian-Peruvian Frontier, Xapuri, December 2003.
  • Invited by Peruvian representatives to present the results of the MAP IV meeting at a seminar on economic corridors, Peuvian Congress, Lima, Peru, August 2003.
  • Coordinator of two successive UFAC research projects supported by the Pilot Program for the Preservation of Brazilian Tropical Forests (PPG7). UFAC has been one of only two Amazonian universities awarded support. The latter project was one of two chosen to represent the 30 PPD-PPG7 projects in Brazilian preparatory meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, June 2002.