Daniela Soleri

Daniela Soleri (r) with colleague Delfina Castellanos, Oaxaca, Mexico Research Scientist and Lecturer	Office:	Bren Hall, 4025
	Phone:	(805) 893-7502
	Fax:	(805) 893-8686
	E-mail:	soleri@es.ucsb.edu
	Website:	www.es.ucsb.edu/faculty/soleri.php
	Mailing Address:	Environmental Studies Program University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4160
	Courses:	ES 158ES Crop Genetic Resources ES 193EC Enthnoecology Olive Research Project

I take an interdisciplinary approach in my research on people's management of their agricultural plants. My focus is on how human knowledge and practices, together with local growing environments, effect basic genetic processes such as selection and gene flow, the consequences of this for crop structure and distribution, and for rural communities. An important aspect of this research is differences between traditionally based, low-external-input agriculture and industrial agriculture, with the goal of improving collaboration between local people and scientists and the relevance of agricultural research for farmers. I have carried out research on Hopi Native American crop diversity; Zuni Native American intellectual property rights in their traditional crops; on farm heritability and response to selection of farmers' maize varieties in Oaxaca, Mexico; and farmers' perceptions of genetic processes central to crop improvement in Syria, Nepal, Cuba, Mali and Mexico. Currently I am investigating olive gene flow in North America, and farmers' knowledge and practices relevant to transgene flow in Meso-America.

Education:
Ph.D. University of Arizona (Arid Land Resource Sciences- Ethnoecology, Plant Sciences)
M.Sc. University of Arizona (International Agricultural Education)
B.A. University of Arizona (Cultural Anthropology)
Cornell University (Anthropology)