Margaret Buck Holland

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2009

Associate Professor & Interim Chair (2023-2024)
211-M Sondheim Hall
mholland@umbc.edu
mbholland.wordpress.com

Research Interests

My scholarly interests rest, at a most fundamental level, on the intersections between rural livelihoods, land use dynamics, governance, and conservation strategies.  To date, the majority of my research has situated itself in Latin America, with an added layer of focus on forests.  Since 2017, I have engaged in research with colleagues in Mozambique, focused both on protected areas and community engagement, as well as a newer line of work on urban agriculture and green spaces.  I collaborate actively with economists, geographers, conservation biologists, as well as conservation and development practitioners.  The common thread in this interdisciplinary effort is a commitment to developing research that not only contributes to academic discourse, but also is relevant and practical, informing a specific policy or management dialogue.

Recent Research Activities
        • Community benefit-sharing from wildlife conservation in Mozambican protected areas
        • The influence of land tenure on forest change: lessons for conservation incentives and climate change policy in Ecuador
        • Mapping subsistence agriculture and smallholder coffee landscapes in Central America to model adaptive capacity and vulnerability to climate change
        • The influence of conservation management on poverty in Central America
        • Challenges of trans-boundary environmental governance: the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor
Selected Publications
(Google Scholar and ResearchGate profiles)

Tseng, T.W.J., Robinson, B.E., Bellemare, M.F., BenYishay, A., Blackman, A., Boucher, T., Childress, M., Holland, M.B., Kroeger, T., Linkow, B. and Diop, M.G, 2020. Influence of land tenure interventions on human well-being and environmental outcomes. Nature Sustainability, pp.1-10.

Etchart, N., J.L. Freire, M.B. Holland, K.W. Jones, L. Naughton-Treves. 2020. What happens when the money runs out? Forest outcomes and equity concerns following Ecuador’s suspension of conservation payments. World Development. DOI: 10.1013/j.worlddev.2020.105124.

Tabor, K.M.G and M.B. Holland. 2020. Opportunities for improving conservation early warning and alert systems. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation. DOI: 10.1002/rse2.163. Link to open access.

Jones, K.J., N. Etchart, M.B. Holland, L. Naughton-Treves, R. Arriagada. 2020. The impact of paying for forest conservation on tenure security in Ecuador. Conservation Letters. DOI:10.1111/conl.12710. Link to open access.

Masuda, Y.J., A.C. Kelly, B.E. Robinson, M.B. Holland, C. Bedford, M. Childress, E.T. Game, C. Ginsburg, T. Hilhorst, S.W. Lawry, D.A. Miteva, J. Musengezi, L. Naughton-Treves, W.D. Sunderlin, P. Veit. 2020. How do practitioners characterize land tenure security? Conservation Practice and Policy. e186. Link to open access.

Fagan, M.E., Reid, J.L., Holland, M.B., Drew, J.G. and Zahawi, R.A. 2020. How feasible are global forest restoration commitments?. Conservation Letters, p.e12700.

Lisboa, S.N., Woollen, E., Grundy, I.M., Ryan, C.M., Smith, H.E., Zorrilla-Miras, P., Baumert, S., Ribeiro, N., Vollmer, F., Holland, M. and Sitoe, A. 2020. Effect of charcoal production and woodland type on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen in drylands of southern Mozambique. Forest Ecology and Management, 457, p.117692.

Naughton-Treves, L., M.B. Holland. 2019. Losing ground in protected areas? Saving biodiversity requires reducing extractive pressures and engaging local communities in management. Science. 31 May 2019. Vol 364, Issue 6443. pp. 832-833.

Zähringer, J.G.; Beale, C.; Mayer, C.; Li, T.; Ceddia, M.G.; Veit, P.; Knoke, T.; Grafton, Q.; Meinzen-Dick, R.; Nkonya, E.; Robinson, B.; Holland, M.B. 2019. Land Rights in Sustainability. One Earth, 1(2), pp. 155-158. Elsevier 10.1016/j.oneear.2019.09.005

Selig, E.R., D.G. Hole, E.H. Allison, K.K. Arkema, M.C. McKinnon, J. Chu, A. de Sherbinin, B. Fisher, L. Gallagher, M.B. Holland, J.C. Ingram, N.S. Rao, R.B. Russell, T. Srebotnjak, L.C.L. Teh, S. Troeng, W.R. Turner, A. Zvoleff. 2018. Mapping global human dependence on marine ecosystems. Conservation Letters. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12617

Smith, D.A., M.B. Holland, A. Michon, A. Ibáñez, F. Herrera. 2017. The hidden layer of indigenous land tenure: Informal forest ownership and its implications for forest use and conservation in Panama’s largest collective territory. International Forestry Review.

Holland, M.B., S.I. Dupre G, J. Baker G, S. Lawry, A.E. Duchelle, A. Kelly, Y.J. Masuda, B.E. Robinson, 2017. How does indigeneity influence socio-ecological conditions in community forests?: A systematic review protocol (No. CIFOR Working Paper no. 234, p. 22p). Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia.

Robinson, B.E., Y.J. Masuda, A. Kelly, M.B. Holland, C. Bedford, M. Childress, D. Fletschner, E.T. Game, C. Ginsburg, T. Hilhorst, S. Lawry, D.A. Miteva, J. Musengezi, L. Naughton-Treves, C. Nolte, W.D. Sunderlin, P. Veit. 2017. Incorporating Land Tenure Security into Conservation. Conservation Letters. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12383

Robinson, B.E., M.B. Holland, L. Naughton-Treves. 2017. Community land titles alone will not protect forests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1707787114

Holland, M.B., K.W. Jones, J.L. Freire, M. Morales, L. Naughton-Treves, L. Suárez. 2017. Titling land to conserve forests: the case of Cuyabeno Reserve in Ecuador. Global Environmental Change.

Holland, M.B., and D. Lansing. 2017. Forests in limbo: assessing Costa Rica’s forest and land reform policies. Society and Natural Resources. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2016.1257080

Holland, M.B., S.Z. Shamer G, P.A. Imbach, J.C. Zamora, C. Medellin, E. Leguia, C. Donatti, M.R. Martínez, C.A. Harvey. 2016. Mapping adaptive capacity and smallholder agriculture: applying expert knowledge at the landscape scale. Climatic Change, 1-15. doi:10.1007/s10584-016-1810-2.

Jones, K.W., M.B. Holland, L. Naughton-Treves, M. Morales, L. Suárez, K. Keelan G. 2016. Forest conservation incentives and deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Environmental Conservation. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0376892916000308.

McKinnon, M., Cheng, S., Dupre, S.G, Edmond, J., Garside, R., Glew, L., Holland, M. B., Levine, E.,Masuda, Y., Miller, D., Oliveira, I., Revenaz, J., Roe, D., Shamer, S.G, Wilkie, D.,Wongbusarakum, S., Woodhouse, E. 2016. What are the effects of nature conservationon human well-being? A systematic map of empirical evidence from developing countries. Environmental Evidence.

Bottrill, M., S. Cheng, R. Garside, S. Wongbusarakum, D. Roe, M.B. Holland, J. Edmond, W.R. Turner. 2014. What are the impacts of nature conservation interventions on human well-being: a systematic map protocol. Environmental Evidence.

Robinson, B., M.B. Holland, L. Naughton-Treves. 2014. Does secure land tenure save forests? A meta-analysis of the relationship between land tenure and tropical deforestation. Global Environmental Change  29:281-293.

Holland, M.B., F. de Koning, M. Morales, L. Naughton-Treves, B. Robinson, L. Suárez. 2014 Complex tenure and deforestation: implications for conservation incentives in the Ecuadorian Amazon. World Development 55: 21-36.

Holland, M.B. 2011. The Role of Protected Areas for Conserving Biodiversity and Reducing Poverty (Volume 2, Chapter 18) in Ingram, J.C., F. DeClerck, C. Rumbaitis del Rio (Eds). 2011. Integrating Ecology and Poverty Reduction: The Application of Ecology in Development Solutions. Springer Link, New York, NY, pp. 253-272.

Andam, K., P. Ferraro, K. Sims, A. Healy, M.B. Holland. 2010. “Protected areas reduced poverty in Costa Rica and Thailand”.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(22):9996-10001.

Bruce, J., Holland, M., Lastarria-Cornhiel, S., Naughton-Treves, L., Robinson, B. and K. Wendland. 2010.*”Capítulo 3. Conceptos y términos clave relacionados con la tenencia y los derechos de propiedad en la conservación de bosques basada en incentivos directos”, pp. 61-83 en Seguridad en la tenencia dela tierra e incentivos para la conservación de bosques. Editors: M. Morales, L. Naughton-Treves y L.Suárez. ECOLEX (Corporación de Gestión y Derecho Ambiental).ISBSN: 95 pp.

Naughton-Treves, L., N. Alvarez-Berrios, K. Brandon, A. Bruner, M.B. Holland, C. Ponce, M. Saenz, L. Suarez, and A. Treves. 2006. “Expanding protected areas and incorporating human resource use: A study  of 15 forest parks in Ecuador and Peru” Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy. 2(2):32-44.

Naughton-Treves, L., M.B. Holland, and K. Brandon. 2005. “The Role of Protected Areas in Conserving Biodiversity and Sustaining Local Livelihoods” Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 30:219-252.

Zimmerer, K., R.E. Galt, and M.V. Buck (Holland). 2004. “Globalization and the Coverage of Protected Areas (1980-2000): Trends at the World-Region and Country Levels”. AMBIO, Issue 8, December, 2004.

: denotes graduate student co-author

Recent Presentations

2017, Oral presentation, “Additionality and forest conservation impact of SocioBosque on indigenous lands in the Ecuadorian Amazon”, Changing Landscapes and Livelihoods in the Amazon Basin, AAG Annual Meeting, Boston, MA. (April 5, 2017).

2016, Oral presentation, “The tenure gap and its influence on forests and livelihood conditions”, Forests and Livelihoods Assessment Research and Engagement (FLARE) Network Meeting, Edinburgh, Scotland. (December 2, 2016).

2016, Panel session / presenter, “Conservation diplomacy: navigating local stakeholder testimony, conservation agendas, and policy pressure” in session; “Building and Critiquing Conservation: The Role of Social Scientist”, North American Congress for Conservation Biology, Madison, WI. (July 18, 2016).

2016, Seminar, “Untangling the effects of conservation and formalized tenure on forests and communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon,” Graduate School of Geography, Clark
University, Worcester, MA. (April 21, 2016).

2015, Seminar, “Untangling the Effects of Conservation Policy and Management on Forests in the Ecuadorian Amazon,” Geospatial Forum, College of Natural Resources, NC State
University, Raleigh, NC. (November 5, 2015).

2015, AAG Annual Meeting, Oral Presentation, “Influence of secure property rights and PES on forests and livelihoods: case studies from eastern Ecuador,” American Association
of Geographers, Chicago, IL. (April 2015).

2015, Seminar, “Does land titling save forests? An exploration into land titling and conservation incentives in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon,” Human Dimensions of Natural
Resources Department, Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University,Fort Collins, CO. (March 12, 2015).

2014, Seminar, “Untangling the policy effect of protected areas, land titling, and PES on forests and livelihoods in the northern Ecuadorian Amazon”, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Lab, October 15, 2014.

2014. Plenary address. “El Corredor Biológico Mesoamericano:Traduciendo legados persistentes en un marco para el futuro de cooperación ambiental transfronterizo”, Congreso Mesoamericano de Areas Protegidas, Symposium on Biological Corridors, March 2014.

Graduate Students (Chair)

Samuel I. Dupre, 2018.  Post-impact migration in Guatemalan coffee landscapes.
Moustapha Diop, 2020. To Formalize or Not: Investigating Drivers of Landholders’ Decision to Formalize Land in Rural Sub Saharan Africa – The Case of Senegal
Karyn Tabor, PhD student
Sierra Shamer, MSc. 2014. The Outcomes of Translating Neoliberal Environmental Theory: A Critical Analysis of Payments for Ecosystem Services.
Jennifer Mayo, MSc. 2015. An Analysis of the Housing Market Typology in Baltimore City.
K
atelyn Miller, MSc. 2016. Latin@ Immigrant Influence on an Urban Foodscape
John Brooks Binau, MSc. 2017. Urban Farms in Baltimore City: A foodshed and foodscape analysis

Courses Taught

GES 120: Environmental Science & Conservation
GES 337: Natural Resource Management
GES 338: Changing Context of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
GES 437/637: Conservation and Development in the Tropics
GES 462/662: Applications of GIS in Human-Environment Systems
GES 400/600: Conservation and Sustainable Development in Costa Rica (Field Course: Summer 2014)
GES 400/600: Climate Change at the Forest-Water Nexus: Costa Rica (Field Course: Summer 2017) – https://umbcincostarica.wordpress.com/
GES 400/600: Life on Land in Africa (Fall 2019)
GES 400/600: Climate Change and Society – the context of Maryland (with Dr. Dawn Biehler) (Spring 2020)
GES 700: Graduate seminar in Human-Environment Geography – (Fall 2014: Tropical Forest Transitions ; Fall 2016: Environmental Science <–> Policy Translations)
GES 701: Introductory Graduate Seminar for Geography & Environmental Systems