Research Interests

My research interests revolve around the use, management, and conservation of natural resources and landscapes by indigenous peoples of Central America and Mexico.  As a geographer, I am particularly interested in the connections between people and the environment and the spatial patterns of natural resource use. Participatory mapping that includes local investigators has been a core element of my research.  Closely related interests include local knowledge, ethnobiology, and critical cartography. Current projects focus on (i) indigenous forest use in Panama and (ii) Mayan understandings of the cultural landscapes of the Yucatan region of Mexico.

2013-2014 Courses

• GEOM 1004, Maps, Satellites and the Geospatial Revolution (co-taught with M. Richardson)
• GEOG 3021, Culture, Place and Time
• GEOG 5406, Special Topics in Cultural Geography: The Power of Maps

Publications

Smith, Derek A., Peter H. Herlihy, Aida Ramos Viera, John H. Kelly, Andrew M. Hilburn, Miguel Aguilar Robledo, and Jerome E. Dobson, 2012. Using Participatory Research Mapping and GIS to Explore Local Geographic Knowledge of Indigenous Landscapes in Mexico. FOCUS on Geography 55(4): 119-124.

Dunn, Marc Andre, Nereyda Estrada and Derek A. Smith, 2012. The Coexistence of Baird’s Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and Indigenous Hunters in Northeastern Honduras. Integrative Zoology 7: 429-438.

Dunn, Marc Andre and Derek A. Smith, 2011. The Spatial Patterns of Miskitu Hunting in North-eastern Honduras: Lessons for Wildlife Management in Tropical Forests. Journal of Latin American Geography 10(1): 85-108.

Smith, Derek A., 2010. Hunting birds in the rain forests of western Panama. Geographical Review 100(2): 187-203.

Smith, Derek A., Peter H. Herlihy, John H. Kelly, and Aida Ramos Viera, 2009. The Certification and Privatization of Indigenous Lands in Mexico.  Journal of Latin American Geography 82(2):395-415.

Smith, Derek A., 2008. The Spatial Patterns of Indigenous Wildlife Use in Western Panama: Implications for Conservation Management. Biological Conservation 141(4):925-937.

Smith, Derek A., 2008. “Ethnogeography of the Mayangna of Nicaragua.” In Ethno- and Historical Geographic Studies in Latin America: Essays Honoring William V.Davidson, edited by P.H. Herlihy, K. Mathewson, and C.S. Revels, pp. 85-104. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Geoscience Publications, Louisiana State University.

Peter H. Herlihy, Jerome E. Dobson, Miguel Aguilar Robledo, Derek A. Smith, John H. Kelly, and Aida Ramos Viera, 2008. A Digital Geography of Indigenous Mexico: Prototype for the American Geographical Society’s Bowman Expeditions. Geographical Review 98(3):395-415.

Smith, Derek A., 2005. Garden Game: Shifting Cultivation, Indigenous Hunting Strategies, and Wildlife Ecology in Western Panama. Human Ecology 33(4):505-537.

Smith, Derek A., 2003. Participatory Mapping of Community Lands and Hunting Yields Among the Buglé of Western Panama. Human Organization 62(4):332-343.