Estelí Jiménez Soto
Contact
Education
2012-2018 Ph.D. in Environmental Studies – Track: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
University of California, Santa Cruz. U.S.
2012-2015 M.A. in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz. U.S.
2006-2011 B.S. in Agroecology. Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, México.
research
I am a Latin American agroecologist working at the intersection of ecology, biodiversity
conservation, sustainable agriculture, and food sovereignty. My research draws from
a variety of disciplines and concepts including community ecology, political ecology,
anthropology, and critical food geography to have a complex and encompassing understanding
of social and ecological dynamics within agroecosystems. Much of my work takes place
in Latin America, particularly in Chiapas, Mexico, where I study coffee plantations
and agroforestry systems. However, I also have agroecological projects in urban farms
and community gardens in Tampa, FL. For more information see the lab website.
Graduate Students
As part of the agroecology lab, graduate and undergraduate students are generally interested interdisciplinary research to understand the linkages between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human dynamics driving agroecosystem processes. Graduate students in the lab develop independent research within the growing fields of community ecology, agroecology, and political ecology, in a variety of topics of global relevance: biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, climate change, migration, labor, urban agroecology, and food sovereignty. Graduate students can work in a diverse range of agroecosystems and geographies, such as agroforestry systems in Latin America, and farms, and community gardens in the US.
The Living Agroecology Lab welcomes peoples from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, bringing a culture of respect, solidarity, creativity, and innovation in the field of agroecology.
For a complete list of current and previous lab members and collaboration opportunities
for graduate and undergraduate students visit the lab’s website.
Courses
I am currently teaching Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, undergraduate level
(EVR 4930; Spring)
Specialty Area
Agroecology, Biodiversity Conservation, Ecosystem Services, Political Ecology, Sustainable
Food Systems, Food Sovereignty, Migration, Climate Change.
Recent Publications
1. Cowal S, Morris J. R, Jiménez-Soto E, Philpott S. M. 2023. Naturally Occurring Vegetation Connectivity Facilitates Ant-Mediated Coffee Berry Borer Removal. Insects. 14(11):869.
2. Mieles, A.E., Voss, M.A. and Jiménez-Soto, E., 2023. Effects of Peri-Urbanization on Coastal Sage Scrub Ant Species in Baja California. Diversity, 15(9), p.953.
3. Soto-Pinto, L., Colmenares, S.E., Kanter, M.B., López Cruz, A., Estrada-Lugo, E.I.J., Herrera Hernández, B. and Jiménez-Soto, E. 2022. Contributions of traditional agroforestry systems to food and other social and environmental benefits. Contradictions and synergies in Chiapas, Mexico. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, p.506.
4. Guthman, J. and Jiménez-Soto, E., 2021. Socioeconomic challenges of California strawberry production and disease resistant cultivars. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, p.446.
5. Jiménez -Soto, E. 2020. The political ecology of shaded coffee plantations: conservation narratives and the everyday-lived-experience of farmworkers. The Journal of Peasant Studies, pp.1-20.
6. Vandermeer, J.… Jiménez -Soto, E. 2019. The Community Ecology of Herbivore Regulation in an Agroecosystem: Lessons from Complex Systems. BioScience, 69(12), pp.974-996.
7. Perfecto, I., Jiménez -Soto, E. and Vandermeer, J., 2019. Coffee landscapes shaping
the Anthropocene: forced simplification on a complex agroecological landscape. Current
Anthropology, 60(S20), pp.S236-S250.