Rebeca de Jesus-Crespo

I am collaborating with the Rainforest Alliance to determine the impact of their certification program on water conservation in tropical agro-forestry systems in Ghana and Costa Rica. Specific objectives include: a) creating a monitoring tool to evaluate water quality of Rainforest Alliance certified farms, b) determining optimal shade tree cover at the watershed scale that would promote protection of streams draining “shade grown coffee” farms. Based on my experience collaborating with an NGO, I am also documenting challenges related to Academi-Practitioner collaborations as well as strategies for successful partnerships.

Honors & Awards:

• 2013 Fulbright US Student Program Grant
• 2012 Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research Award
• 2012 Odum School of Ecology Small Grant
• 2012 Odum School of Ecology Solitary Glove Award
• 2011 Odum School of Ecology Small Grant
• 2010 Tinker Foundation/Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute Travel Grant