Restoring Plantation Landscapes: A Community Science Approach for Adaptive Monitoring in Milpa Alta, Mexico

Past Student Researchers

Evelyn Hall '25, Major: Integrative Conservation; Major (self-designed): Ecological & Spatial Data; 2024 CRP

Cathryn (Rynn) Little '25, Major: Biology; Major: Integrative Conservation; 2024 CRP

Sam Dutilly '23, Major: Biology; Major: Environmental Science; 2024 CRP

Emma Lankford '25, Major: Integrative Conservation; Major: Biology; 2024 CRP

Bibiana Mirones ‘22, Major: Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies; Major: Environmental Policy; 2023 CRP

Jordan Bryant '23, Major: Integrative Conservation and Biology; 2023 CRP

Faculty Mentors

Dr. Fernando Galeana Rodriguez,  Dr. Martha Case , and Dr. Sapana Lohani (2024)

Project Description

Forests and grasslands in Milpa Alta, a rural borough on the outskirts of Mexico City, have been shaped by decades of tree-planting campaigns. These efforts created dense pine plantations that disrupted natural ecosystem processes, reducing biodiversity and altering habitat. The high-elevation grasslands and pine forests along the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt are ecologically significant but face ongoing pressure from unnaturally dense tree cover.

This project supports the Milpa Alta Biological Monitoring Group, a grassroots collective dedicated to ecological restoration and land stewardship rooted in community knowledge. The group has long worked to improve forest conditions by selectively thinning trees to restore open canopy habitats. Our collaboration aims to: understand the extent of how tree-planting campaigns or other ecological stressors have contributed to loss of habitats in Milpa Alta, and to co-develop  action plans in a monitoring framework that guides the community in restoration efforts while balancing ecological goals with local priorities for livelihoods and land use.

By engaging with the community, projects seek to enhance the monitoring group's capacity to evaluate conservation outcomes, inform management decisions, and communicate progress to partners. Student researchers will play a critical role in collecting field data and  co-designing systems to acquire knowledge, linking ecological data with social and land-use indicators that advance both conservation practice and community empowerment.

This effort builds on an ongoing partnership between the Institute for Integrative Conservation and the Milpa Alta Biological Monitoring Group that began in 2022. Previous student teams have collected vegetation data and identified plants on site with local community members, evaluated vegetation changes in response to forest thinning, and used remote sensing to understand broad land-use and vegetation patterns. The 2026 project builds on these contributions by helping the community integrate knowledge and organize restoration efforts in ways that serve both ecological and social goals.

Prerequisites and Required Skills

We seek two student researchers:

• A social science student to analyze land-use dynamics, identify barriers to restoration, and contribute to social indicators.
• A natural science student to study vegetation change, ecological dynamics, and related environmental indicators.

Social science applicants should be prepared to take Political Ecology of Conservation (Dr. Galeana Rodriguez) in the Spring; Spanish proficiency is strongly preferred.

Natural science applicants would ideally have completed Integrative Biology: Plants (BIOL 304 or 305) and should be prepared to take Plant Identification (Dr. Case). They are not expected to speak Spanish, as translation support will be provided.

Both students are expected to engage in fieldwork, collaborate across disciplines, and help organize participatory workshops with community members, demonstrating motivation for community-based conservation and openness to learning from local partners.

Travel Required

Students will spend approximately one month in Milpa Alta, Mexico, during the summer. The travel will involve fieldwork in high-elevation grasslands and plantation forests, including vegetation surveys and other ecological assessments, as well as participatory workshops with community members.

Notes for Applicants

This is a great project for students who are interested in community-led conservation and forestry.

Project ID - Format

22-014-22-26 - CRP Year