Professor Catherine Tucker is on a research stay at Loyola to explore opportunities for collaboration in Latin America with the University of Florida

Catherine M. Tucker, professor at the University of Florida Center for Latin American Studies, has begun a research stay at Universidad Loyola this week. After visiting Fundación ETEA – Development Institute of the Spanish Jesuit university, with the help of its Regional Coordinator for Central America and the Caribbean, Michela Accerenzi, the academic has on her agenda to share knowledge and exchange experiences in order to propose future lines of collaboration between the two universities.

One of the main training activities planned is the seminarHolistic Perspectives on Coffee from Production to Consumption and the challenges for fair, sustainable and equitable development” to be held from 10 to 12 April. The event, organised through Universidad Loyola’s Doctoral Programme on Inclusive and Sustainable Development, addresses coffee as one of the most important tropical agricultural products globally. Professor Tucker will explore the challenges associated with coffee production and processing and its value chains, considering perspectives and experiences of different coffee stakeholders, as well as the decisions and actions of consumers that can have a constructive influence on solving coffee challenges.

On the other hand, in the research agenda, several meetings have been planned so that the expert can get to know the entire “Development Ecosystem” of the university, made up of bodies such as the Development Commission, Fundación ETEA – Development Institute, the Institute for Policy Research for Social Transformation, the Doctoral Programme in Inclusive and Sustainable Development, among others. Working meetings have also been planned with the Red ICA and with the academic staff that makes up the research teams of several international cooperation projects implemented by the University and its Development Institute.

Finally, one of the main purposes of Professor Tucker’s stay is to extend the agreement signed in 2020 between the University of Florida and Universidad Loyola, which includes stays for faculty and students, internships, as well as the possibility of presenting and implementing joint projects, thanks to the similarity of the general lines of research of both universities.

Dr. Tucker’s professional background

Catherine Tucker holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Arizona and is also associate director of academic affairs at the University of Florida where she is a professor at the Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Anthropology. She is an expert in the area of Central America, Mexico and Peru. She is involved in studies related to environmental governance, community conservation, institutional analysis, climate change adaptation, belief systems and sustainability.