J. Christopher Brown


J. Christopher Brown
  • Professor
  • Geography
  • Environmental Studies

Contact Info

Office Phone:
Department Phone:
Malott Hall, #4010
Strong Hall

Biography

I am a "human-environment" geographer, one who feels uncomfortable being labeled as either human or physical. Through my teaching and research, I try to tell stories about the unfolding human experience on earth as one influenced by natural systems, social systems, and systems of culture and meaning. Ever since my years as an undergraduate biology major, I have been fascinated by the rapid changes occurring in the Brazilian Amazon. My research today continues to focus on attempts to forge sustainable development in that region. Policy directives in this area have often privileged a static image of forested environments, their biodiversity, indigenous cultures, and economies, as some ideal form to be replicated throughout the region among all human groups. Such of view of sustainable development masks what are dynamic political economic and biogeographical processes that have developed as people, institutions, and components of the natural landscape react to one another in an increasingly disturbed rainforest and savanna environment. I argue our research must focus on these dynamics that will determine the success of efforts to alter the currently destructive relationship between people and the humid tropical environment.

Research

Project 1: Social relations in Amazonian rural development. My long-term research plans involve understanding the role of the growing movement of NGOs throughout Latin America in mediating human - environment relationships, especially in rural areas. I am interested in producing empirical studies of the spatial character of NGO activity, tracking where NGO resources come from, the types of production activities and political economic formations NGOs encourage, and what lasting local and regional effects the resulting forms of social relations have on people and the environment. Much of my current work stems from an NSF-funded project I co-authored with political scientists David Brown (University of Colorado - Boulder) and Scott Desposato (University of California – San Diego). Our findings on how funding of NGOs affectsr on bridge domestic politics at the state and federal level have been published in Comparative Political Studies, Political Geography, and Latin American Research Review (in press). Our general conclusion is that there is a direct relationship between NGO funding and voting for leftist politicians when people vote for presidential candidates, but when state politicians can claim credit for NGO funding, voters reward them even though they may be from center-right parties. Moreover, there is no evidence that the type of group receiving money matters when considering the effect of funding on political change. As this project comes to a close, we will begin working on efforts to understand the political impacts of the landless movement in Brazil (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – MST). Project 2: Expansion of soybean production in Amazonia. The rapid expansion of soybean production has alarmed environmentalists world-wide that soybeans are the next major threat to the continued existence of tropical forest in the Amazon. Our task, involving researchers at Kansas Applied Remote Sensing, Texas A&M Geography, and Brazil's Federal Agricultural Research Agency (Embrapa) is to integrate remote sensing and socio-economic and cultural studies to understand the human environmental dynamics involved in the expansion of this land use. The major question is whether native tropical ecosystems are being converted directly to soybean and other annual crop production or whether most of the crop production has actually, and is likely to continue, to go into areas that were already deforested for other purposes long ago (cattle ranching, for example). Preliminary research, appearing in Ambio, suggests that soybean production expands readily into areas already deforested along with some expansion into forested regions. We also seek to use MODIS 250m data to carry out high-temporal resolution remote sensing of growing areas to detect deforestation and subsequent land uses to form the empirical data necessary to test hypotheses about the relationship between agricultural intensification and tropical deforestation. A current official cooperative research effort between Kansas and Brazil's Embrapa promises to allow for continued development of this research program. Project 3: Development and the Politics of Scale: This work involves a co-authored effort with Mark Purcell (Urban Planning, University of Washington), an urban political economic geographer. We are interested in the issue of scale in geography, not the common scales of analysis, but rather researching scale as the object of analysis, based on the idea that scaleis socially constructed and the outcome of political economic projects. Such research has allowed me to approach my work on so-called global/local linkages between international environmental and grassroots movements in Amazonian sustainable development efforts with much greater theoretical rigor. We argue that many human environment studies tend, incorrectly, to ascribe particular characteristics to scale (global and/or national is bad; local is good), and that understanding that scale is socially constructed helps avoid such "scalar traps". We call for researchers in political ecology to investigate more deeply the agendas of actors, rather than assume them from knowing something about the scale at which people are organized. Our work has appeared in Geoforum and Progress in Development Studies.

Research interests:

  • political and ecological dynamics of development and conservation
  • biogeography
  • development institutions and policy
  • NGOs
  • human-environment relations
  • Latin America
  • Amazonia, Brazil

Selected Publications

De Oliveira Folharini, S., Nogueira De Melo, S., Guimarães Ramos, R., Brown, J. (2023). Land use and green crime: assessing the edge effect. Land Use Policy - Volume 129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106636.
Mayes, D., Bhatta, C., Shi, D., Brown, J., Smith, D. (2019). Body Size Influences Stingless Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Communities Across a Range of Deforestation Levels in Rondônia, Brazil. Journal of Insect Science - Issue 2 | Volume 19. https://doi.org/10.1093/JISESA/IEZ032.
Restrepo-Osorio, D., Brown, J. (2018). A Q methodology application on disaster perceptions for adaptation and resiliency in an Andean watershed symposium: water and climate in Latin America. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences - Issue 4 | Volume 8. https://doi.org/10.1007/S13412-018-0510-9.
Garrett, R., Koh, I., Lambin, E., Le Polain De Waroux, Y., Kastens, J., Brown, J. (2018). Intensification in agriculture-forest frontiers: Land use responses to development and conservation policies in Brazil. Global Environmental Change - Volume 53. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GLOENVCHA.2018.09.011.
Bishop, C., Brown, J., Kastens, J., Caldas, M. (2017). Effects of Sugarcane Ethanol Expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado: Land Use Response in the New Frontier. Bioenergy and Land Use Change. Amer Geophysical Union. [9781119297345].
Souza, C., Cervi, W., Brown, J., Rocha, J., Lamparelli, R. (2017). Mapping and evaluating sugarcane expansion in Brazil’s savanna using MODIS and intensity analysis: a case-study from the state of Tocantins. Journal of Land Use Science - Issue 6 | Volume 12. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2017.1404647.
Kastens, J., Brown, J., Coutinho, A., Bishop, C., Esquerdo, J. (2017). Soy moratorium impacts on soybean and deforestation dynamics in Mato Grosso, Brazil. PLoS ONE - Issue 4 | Volume 12. https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0176168.
Petrini, M., Rocha, J., Brown, J. (2017). Mismatches between mill-cultivated sugarcane and smallholding farming in Brazil: Environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Journal of Rural Studies - Volume 50. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JRURSTUD.2017.01.009.
Oliveira, M., Brown, J., Moreira, M. (2017). Highway Infrastructure, Protected Areas, and Orchid Bee Distribution and Conservation in the Brazilian Amazon. Journal of Environmental Protection - Issue 08 | Volume 08. https://doi.org/10.4236/JEP.2017.88058.
Brown, D., Brown, J., Brown, C. (2016). Land occupations and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Land Use Policy - Volume 54. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LANDUSEPOL.2016.02.003.
Brown, J. (2016). Nongovernmental Organizations: Scale, Society, and Environment. Placing Latin America. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc. [9781442246812].
Petrini, M., Rocha, J., Brown, J., Bispo, R. (2016). Using an analytic hierarchy process approach to prioritize public policies addressing family farming in Brazil. Land Use Policy - Volume 51. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LANDUSEPOL.2015.10.029.
Brown, J., Koeppe, M. (2015). Moratória da soja na Amazônia brasileira e governança ambiental: regulação através do mercado ou regulação estatal? (The soy moratorium in the Brazilian Amazon and environmental governance: market or state-led regulation?). Revista Pós Ciências Sociais - Issue 22 | Volume 11.
Brown, D., Brown, J., Desposato, S. (2014). NGOs, Turnout, and the Left: A Sub-national Analysis of Brazil. Journal of Developing Societies - Issue 4 | Volume 30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0169796X14545578.
Brown, J., Hanley, E., Bergtold, J., Caldas, M., Barve, V., Peterson, D., Callihan, R., Gibson, J., Gray, B., Hendricks, N., Brunsell, N., Dobbs, K., Kastens, J., Earnhart, D. (2014). Ethanol plant location and intensification vs. extensification of corn cropping in Kansas. Applied Geography - Volume 53. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.APGEOG.2014.05.021.
Putnam, H., Brown, J. (2014). The Importance of Process in Achieving Food Sovereignty: Participatory Action Research (PAR) in Coffeelands of Nicaragua. The Global Food System. (pp. 243-265). Praeger Pub Text. [9781440829116].
Caldas, M., Bergtold, J., Peterson, J., Graves, R., Earnhart, D., Gong, S., Lauer, B., Brown, J. (2014). Factors affecting farmers' willingness to grow alternative biofuel feedstocks across Kansas. Biomass and Bioenergy - Volume 66. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.BIOMBIOE.2014.04.009.
Brown, J., Rausch, L., Luz, V. (2014). Toward a Spatial Understanding of Staple Food and Nonstaple Food Production in Brazil. The Professional Geographer - Issue 2 | Volume 66. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2013.781492.
Brown, J., De Oliveira, M. (2014). The impact of agricultural colonization and deforestation on stingless bee (Apidae: Meliponini) composition and richness in Rondônia, Brazil. Apidologie - Issue 2 | Volume 45. https://doi.org/10.1007/S13592-013-0236-3.
Peterson, J., Caldas, M., Bergtold, J., Sturm, B., Graves, R., Earnhart, D., Hanley, E., Brown, J. (2014). Economic Linkages to Changing Landscapes. Environmental Management - Issue 1 | Volume 53. https://doi.org/10.1007/S00267-013-0116-7.
Coutinho, A., Brown, J., Esquerdo, J., Kastens, J., Ribeiro, B. (2014). Dinâmica da agricultura nos polos de produção de grãos no Mato Grosso do Sul. SIMPÓSIO DE GEOTECNOLOGIAS NO PANTANAL - Volume 5 | Pages 240-249.
Donalisio, M., Cordeiro, R., Lourenço, R., Brown, J. (2013). The AIDS epidemic in the Amazon region: a spatial case-control study in Rondonia, Brazil. Revista de Saúde Pública - Issue 5 | Volume 47. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0034-8910.2013047004539.
Brown, J., Kastens, J., Coutinho, A., Victoria, D., Bishop, C. (2013). Classifying multiyear agricultural land use data from Mato Grosso using time-series MODIS vegetation index data. Remote Sensing of Environment - Volume 130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2012.11.009.
Brown, J., Koeppe, M. (2013). The Soy Moratorium and the Construction of Illegal Soybeans in the Brazilian Amazon. Amazonia. (pp. 110-126). Sussex Academic Pr. [9781845195007].
Brown, J. (2013). Soy Moratorium Impacts on Soybean and Deforestation Dynamics in Mato Grosso, Brazil
. PLOS ONE.
Kastens, J., Brown, J., Bishop, C., Coutinho, A., Esquerdo, J. (2013). Soy Moratorium Impacts on Soybean and Deforestation Dynamics in Mato Grosso, Brazil. PLOS ONE.
Barve, N., Bonilla, A., Brandes, J., Brown, J., Brunsell, N., Cochran, F., Crosthwait, R., Gentry, J., Gerhart, L., Jackson, T., Kern, A., Oberhauser, K., Owens, H., Peterson, A., Reed, A., Soberon, J., Sundberg, A., Williams, L. (2012). Climate-change and mass mortality events in overwintering monarch butterflies. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad - Issue 3 | Volume 83. https://doi.org/10.7550/rmb.26460.
Brannstrom, C., Rausch, L., Brown, J., De Andrade, R., Miccolis, A. (2012). Compliance and market exclusion in Brazilian agriculture: Analysis and implications for “soft” governance. Land Use Policy - Issue 2 | Volume 29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.07.006.
Brown, J. (2012). Nongovernmental Organizations: Scale, Society, and Environment. Placing Latin America. (pp. 147-158). Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc. [9781442212428].
Victoria, D., Da Paz, A., Coutinho, A., Kastens, J., Brown, J. (2012). Cropland area estimates in Mato Grosso, Brazil, using MODIS NDVI time series. Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira - Issue 9 | Volume 47.
Cordeiro, R., Donalisio, M., Andrade, V., Mafra, A., Nucci, L., Brown, J., Stephan, C. (2011). Spatial distribution of the risk of dengue fever in southeast Brazil, 2006-2007. BMC Public Health - Issue 1 | Volume 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-355.
Brown, D., Brown, J., Donaghy, M. (2011). The Electoral Consequences of Direct Political Action: Evidence from Brazil. Latin American Politics and Society - Issue 04 | Volume 53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2011.00133.x.
Brown, J. Effects of sugarcane ethanol expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado: Land uses response in the new frontier. Bioenergy and Land Use Change. Wiley.

Awards & Honors

<div class="fp-award fp-container"><div class="aca-award">George and Eleanor Woodyard International Educator Award. International Programs, University of Kansas. Received: 1-01-2016.</div><div class="aca-award">George and Eleanor Woodyard International Educator Award. International Programs, University of Kansas. Received: 12-31-2016.</div></div>