Caviglia-Harris Earns $168,000 NSF Grant for Amazon Study

SALISBURY, MD---Producing economic studies about de-forestation in the Amazon, Dr. Jill Caviglia-Harris of Salisbury University’s Economics and Finance Department recently earned a $168,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to further her research. The grant, awarded in March, goes toward her project “The Dynamics of Household Land Use and Economic Welfare on the Amazon Frontier.” Through the project, Caviglia-Harris studies land use in the Brazilian Amazon. Currently she is looking at the relationship between household welfare and deforestation. The award is a collaborative grant with Dr. Erin Sills, Forestry Economist at North Carolina State University. This project builds on data collected in 1996 and 2000. A fundamental issue addressed in this project is how trends in land use over time have impacted the livelihoods of the Amazonian residents. Dan Harris of the SU Geography Department leads the spatial data collection and global information system analysis. In addition, undergraduate students assist in field work, data collection and data analysis. For more information call 410-543-6030 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.