Events
Indigenous History, Historical Ecology, and the Environmental Tipping Point in the Southern Amazon
Date and Time
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 6:00 PM
Location
https://gvsu-edu.zoom.us/j/96775514185
Description
The Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program and The
Department of Geography and Sustainable Planning
present our
special guest speaker:
Dr. Morgan Schmidt
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Indigenous History, Historical Ecology, and the Environmental
Tipping Point in the Southern Amazon
Tuesday evening, March 30,
at 6 pm. Virtual Presentation via Zoom:https://gvsu-edu.zoom.us/j/96775514185
Morgan Schmidt is a geographer, archaeologist, and Post-doctoral
Associate in the Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science Department
at MIT. His research combines geography, archaeology, ethnography and
soil science to study historical landscapes and the formation of
Amazonian dark earth or “terra preta” in partnership with the Kuikuro
Community located in the Upper Xingu. Xingu Indigenous Territory
stands out as an island of green forest surrounded by deforestation.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Upper Xingu was a populous
complex society with large, interconnected town and villages and a
fully
“domesticated” cultural landscape. The population was
drastically reduced from conflicts and epidemics after the arrival of
Bandeirantes and Old World diseases. Surviving indigenous communities
in the southern Amazon’s “Arc of Deforestation” have seen drastic
changes in the past two decades with deforestation and encroachment on
their land and waters from the surrounding non-indigenous culture.
Severe droughts and devastating forest fires brought on by
deforestation and climate change, causing the region to reach a
possible tipping point of forest loss and environmental degradation.
This event also appears on the main events calendar tagged as int100, and int201.
Contact
For more information, contact Professor Jim Penn: [email protected]