Professional experience

Roosevelt holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Edinburgh (UK) and a Master’s degree (MSc.) from the University of Missouri, Saint Louis, USA. He has extensive field experience conducting plant biodiversity inventories in remote regions of the Peruvian Amazon, Ecuador, and Guyana. His work has contributed to biodiversity studies supporting the establishment of new protected areas in indigenous territories, including in the Pastaza, Yavarí, lower Napo (Maijuna), and Yaguas-Cotuhé river basins. 

Roosevelt research interests include Amazon forest ecology, landscape forest restoration, environmental impact assessments of large-scale infrastructures (such as roads, national energy grids, riverways, and hydroelectric dams), and the application of advanced technology (molecular ecology, remote sensing, and others) for conservation, restoration and sustainable resource use.

Recently, Roosevelt has lead efforts on landscape forest restoration in areas impacted by gold mining in the Madre de Dios region, southern Peruvian Amazon. Currently, Roosevelt is focused on developing strategies and applied research to accelerate the development of local bio-economies that link population incomes with biodiversity conservation in the Amazon. 

Previous Host Institutions

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

University of Michigan (UM), Ann Arbor, USA

University of Missouri, (UMSL), Saint Louis, USA

Universidad Nacional de la Amazonia Peruana, (UNAP), Iquitos, Peru

E-mail: roosevelt.garcia(at)gmail.com