Jimena Diaz Leiva

dsc_6770Jimena is interested in understanding the drivers of land-use change and deforestation in Peru. Her research will focus on understanding the social and political drivers of small-scale, artisanal gold mining in driving deforestation and mercury contamination in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon. Before joining the Potts group at UC Berkeley, Jimena earned a BA from Dartmouth College in Biology and Environmental Studies and spent a year in Peru working in partnership with the Amazon Conservation Association on a freshwater conservation project.

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