Mauricio Betancourt

Betancourt teaches Intro to Environmental Studies, Environmental Sociology, and the Commodification of Nature. His research has focused on agroecology, nature-society interactions, imperialism, and unequal ecological exchange.

Mauricio Betancourt

Mauricio Betancourt

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Curriculum Vitae

Professor Betancourt is an environmental sociologist whose research focuses on studying the nature-society relationship, global environmental change, and unequal exchange and development. He has published in Global Environmental Change, The Journal of Peasant Studies, and Environmental Research: Climate. He is currently working on a book project about the guano trade in 19th-century Peru.

Education

  • Ph.D., Sociology, University of Oregon
  • M.A., Sociology, University of Oregon
  • M.A., Philosophy of Science, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
  • B.Sc., Biology, UNAM

Research

  • Environmental Sociology
  • Political Economy
  • Ecological Economics
  • Global Environmental Change
  • Agriculture and Food Systems
  • Imperialism
  • Social Theory
  • Environmental History

Teaching

  • Introduction to Environmental Studies (ENV 110)
  • The Commodification of Nature (ENV 295)
  • Society and Natural Resources (ENV 202)

Selected Publications

  • Sikirica, A., Theis, N., and Betancourt, M. (2022). Conflicting outcomes of alternative energies: agricultural methane emissions and hydroelectricity, 1975-2015. Environmental Research: Climate, doi:10.1088/2752-5295/ac8ca9.

  • Loustaunau, L., Betancourt, M., Clark, B., and Foster, J.B. (2021). Chinese contract labor, the corporeal rift, and ecological imperialism in Peru’s nineteenth-century guano boom. Journal of Peasant Studies, doi: 10.1080/03066150.2021.1979966.

  • Betancourt, M. (2020). The effect of Cuban agroecology in mitigating the metabolic rift: A quantitative approach to Latin American food production. Global Environmental Change, 63, 102075. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102075.

  • González, C., Alonso, C., Mora, E., Betancourt, M., Uscanga, A., and Benítez, M. (2017). Modos de producción agrícola y conservación de la biodiversidad en México. Biodiversitas, 132: 3-6.