Profile

Polly is seconded by ECI to the Global Environmental Change and Food Systems (GECAFS) project, a joint project of the IGBP, IHDP and WCRP. Her particular focus is the vulnerability of food systems to GEC and pathways for adaptation.

Polly's experience in interdisciplinary environmental research began with a MS in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1991). She followed this with a PhD in Soil Science from the same university in 1998. Her dissertation research, conducted in rural watershed in central Honduras, combined soil science, ecology, agriculture, economics and anthropology.

From 1998 to 2001, she worked with the Alternatives to Slash and Burn (ASB) programme, an international research program that focussed on the development and implementation of alternative land uses and policies for tropical rainforest margins. From 2001 to 2003, Polly worked for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), a large US NGO with development programs in over 50 countries. She was a Senior Technical Advisor for Agriculture/Environment and provided technical support and advice to programs throughout Africa, Latin America and Asia. Polly was a research fellow at the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI), at Columbia University in New York, from August 2003 to April 2005. Her research for the IRI analyzed the local and national institutional and policy environment in which climate information (monitoring and prediction systems) will be applied and used. She focused on projects in Africa.

Research Interests

Polly's chief research interests concern the interactions among human well-being, environmental services, land use change, and climate in the tropics. She is committed to helping a range of stakeholders achieve the goal of sustainable development.

Selected Recent Publications

• Ericksen, P.J., J.S.I.Ingram, D. Liverman (eds) 2009. Special issue of Environmental Science and Policy on "Food Security and Environmental Change" 12(4).
• Ericksen, P.J. 2008. What is the vulnerability of a food system to global environmental change? Ecology and Society 13(2):14.
• Ericksen, P. J. 2008. Conceptualizing food systems for global environmental change research. Global Environmental Change 18:234-245.
• Ericksen, P.J., (2007) Conceptualizing food systems for global environmental change research. Available online 25 October 2007. Global Environmental Change. In Press
• Osbahr, H., Boyd, E., Ericksen, P. 2007. Resilience, Realities and Research in African Environments. Workshop Report, 18 June 2007. University of Oxford
• Ericksen, P.J. 2006. What is the vulnerability of a food system to global environmental change (GEC)? Submitted to Ecology and Society.
• Ericksen, P., Woodley, E. et al. 2005. Using Multiple Knowledge Systems in Sub-global Assessments: Benefits and Challenges. Millennium Ecosystem Assesment Volume 4: Sub-global Assessments. Chapter 4. (www.millenniumassessment.org)
• Palm C.A., S. A. Vosti, P.A. Sanchez, and P.J. Ericksen (ed). 2005. Slash and Burn Agriculture: The Search for Alternatives. Columbia University Press, New York.
• Thomson, M.C., Ericksen, P.J., Ben Mohammed, and Connor, S.J. 2004. Land-use change and infectious diseases in West Africa. In R. DeFries, G. Asner, R. Houghton (ed) Ecosystem Interactions with Land Use Change. AGU, Geophysical Monograph Series. pp 169-187.
• Van Noordwijk, M., J. Paulsen, and P. Ericksen. 2004. Filters, flows and fallacies: quantifying off-site effects of land-use change. Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment. 104 (1)
• Ericksen, P.J. and M. Ardón. 2003. Similarities and differences among farmer and scientist views of soil quality in Central Honduras. Geoderma 111 (3-4): 233-248.