The Windham World Affairs Council (WWAC) presents a presentation by David Barton Bray entitled: ‘Mexico’s Community Forest Enterprises: Success on the Commons and the Seeds of a Good Anthropocene’ on Friday, 7 Oct, 2022 — 7:00 – 8:30 pm at the Centre Congregational United Church of Christ at 193 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT 05301. The presentation will focus on the content from his newest work in Mexico and his latest book,“Mexico’s Community Forest Enterprises: Success on the Commons and the Seeds of a Good Anthropocene”, published in 2020. It will respond to the question: How do we protect our global commons in ways that provide seeds of hope in the Anthropocene? The talk will begin promptly at 7:00 PM with Bray’s presentation, followed by ample time for questions and discussion from the audience. The talk will be held in the Salon room of the Congregational Church, which is adjacent to the main sanctuary. This talk is free, but donations are suggested, and everyone is welcome to attend.
David Barton Bray is a professor in the Earth and Environment Department at Florida International University (FIU). He carries out research on community forest management in Mexico and Central America and pursues interests in natural resource and ecosystem management in Latin America and globally.
Bray is the lead editor of the book “The Community Forests of Mexico” (University of Texas Press, 2005) and is widely published in academic journals such as Conservation Biology, World Development, Land Use Policy, and Forest Policy and Economics and in journalistic outlets such as the New York Times and the Miami Herald. He has been invited to give presentations on research by himself and colleagues for high-level Chinese forestry officials in Beijing, the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and Mexico City, the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico, and at Yale University, among other venues. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Ecologic, a Cambridge, MA NGO and an advisor to several forest community organizations in Mexico and is currently developing research and action projects with forest community organizations in the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Bray was chair and associate professor in the Environmental Studies Department at FIU from 1997 to 2002. He received his PhD from Brown University in 1983 in Anthropology; he also has a master’s degree in Anthropology from Brown and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. From 1983 to 1986 he was assistant director and visiting assistant professor at the Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University. From 1986 to 1997 he was foundation representative with the Inter-American Foundation, a U.S. government foreign assistance agency, in Arlington, VA. With the IAF he worked in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay 1986-1989 and in Mexico 1989-1997. From 1992 to 1998 he was a member of the Tropical Ecosystems Directorate of the US Man and the Biosphere Program. In 1997 he left the IAF to take up the position at FIU.
Since 1997, he has received research funding from the Fulbright Program, the Ford Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Tinker Foundation, and the US Agency for International Development. He has also consulted for the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
WWAC is the smallest member of the national World Affairs Councils of America (two in Vermont, the other in Burlington) and relies entirely on the support of the public to provide these free and public events. Support is derived primarily from membership dues paid annually by those who attend our events. Members also join the board of the WWAC to enjoy a regular meet n’ greet SALON at 118 Elliot the fourth Wednesday monthly. Windham county is an eclectic collective of individuals with a high level of international engagement and experience. If you are one of these people, the WWAC encourages you to join as a member to get to know this interesting and active group of international thinkers. Student memberships are free, individuals are $35/year, family memberships are $50/year and life memberships are $500. Join online at https://www.windhamworldaffairscouncil.org/membership-application/ or mail a check to WWAC, PO Box 1105, Brattleboro, VT 05302.