Fulbright Amazonia: Dávalos Bridges Borders to Confront Climate Challenges

In December, Liliana M. Dávalos, a professor of genomics, evolution, and political ecology in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, stood before policymakers and the public at the Colombian ambassador’s residence and the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.

Her message was urgent: the Amazon is under unprecedented threat. Through her role as one of only four U.S. representatives in the inaugural Fulbright Amazonia cohort, Dávalos brought years of research to address the challenges facing the region.

Fulbright Amazonia, launched in 2022, united 16 scholars and two co-leads from the United States and eight Amazonian nations to tackle critical issues such as climate change, sustainable development, and human and environmental health. Over 18 months, the interdisciplinary group worked within three thematic areas: Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Strengthening Human and Environmental Health and Security, and Bioeconomy and Sustainable Development.

As a member of the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation group, Dávalos worked to, for the first time, compile weather disaster data across the region. Through her partnership with Ane Alencar, Juan Pablo Iñamagua, Rayane Pacheco, Sabina Ribeiro, and Galia Selaya, Dávalos demonstrated how interdisciplinary efforts can bring forth actionable solutions and offer a path forward to protect Amazonians and their forests in the face of escalating disaster risks. 

Dávalos and her colleagues spearheaded a pivotal policy recommendation: standardizing disaster reporting across Amazonian nations. Their work, summarized in the Fulbright Amazonia Policy Brief, highlighted how fragmented data on floods, wildfires, and other climate-related disasters hinder effective responses. By developing a unified disaster preparedness strategy, enhancing cross-border early-warning systems, and reinforcing local adaptation policies, the group aims to safeguard lives, livelihoods, and the Amazon’s ecosystems.

For her individual project, Dávalos and Colombian host Dolors Armenteras studied the links between transnational crime and environmental degradation. Her research uncovered the recent consolidation of organized crime networks at the Amazon’s tri-border regions, comprising former FARC dissidents, paramilitaries, and prison gangs. Capitalizing on skyrocketing global demand for cocaine and gold, these networks fuel deforestation and environmental destruction by trafficking and producing these commodities. Because these networks also traffic in wildlife, logs, and fish, neither a (very unlikely) reduction in cocaine demand nor (also unlikely) drug decriminalization would on their own undermine these entrenched systems. Instead, Dávalos emphasized the need for transboundary policies to counteract the social and environmental toll of these activities.

During Fulbright Amazonia Week in Washington, D.C., Dávalos joined events hosted by the U.S. State Department, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the National Academy of Sciences. These sessions were opportunities to engage with policymakers and inspire action in the Amazon. According to Dávalos, “as scientists, we often dream of our research reaching policymakers, the Fulbright Amazonia program definitely prepared us to present our findings to policymakers and the public.”  

Before the program in Washington, Dávalos coordinated a symposium, held at the Stony Brook Institute for Advanced Computational Science in December, during which she and her fellow climate change Fulbright scholars engaged with students and faculty on the Amazon’s future. Students posed questions about maintaining hope during challenges and crises, building trust with Amazonian communities, and translating research into change.

“Going in, we didn’t know there would be thousands of disasters and tens of millions affected. Our work shows the cost of inaction is staggering, we must act now to enhance regional resilience,” said Dávalos.

— Contributed by Beth Squire