Tamara Benjamin División de Investigación y Desarrollo CATIE, 7170 Turrialba, Cartago, 30501 Costa Rica Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Purdue University Marstellar Avenue West Lafayette, IN 47907 Office Telephone: +011-506-2558-2607 Fax Telephone: +011-506-2558-2045 Office Location: CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica Email Address: tamara17@purdue.edu or tamara@catie.ac.cr Skype: sofatima

CATIE Link: www.catie.ac.cr OVERVIEW Since the year 2000, Tamara has been posted in Costa Rica as a Purdue employee working to create bridges for the university with activities in Latin America through CATIE, an internationally known regional institution that focuses on forestry and agricultural systems. Her focus has been on providing internship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students throughout Latin America, coordinating and teaching study abroad programs in Costa Rica, and collaborating with Purdue University faculty on research projects in the region. Her research has covered the biophysical, social and economic implications of agroecosystem diversification, the impact of agroecosystems on ecological communities, and the management of agroforestry planning. She has worked on a variety of topics covering functional diversity in agroforestry, biofuels, biochar and other soil amendments, phytosanitary issues in the export market and biodiversity conservation. RESEARCH INTERESTS Tamara’s research has concentrated primarily on the biophysical, social and economic implications of agroecosystem diversification, the impact of agroecosystems on ecological communities, and the management of agroforestry planning. She has written proposals on topics pertaining to agroforestry systems in Latin America such as biodiversity conservation, Neotropical migratory birds, agrobiodiversity, integrated farms, and international agribusiness

Throughout Latin America international price crises for traditional crops (sugar cane, coffee, cocoa) have pushed farmers to diversify their cropping systems to modernize or seek out new niche markets to

survive. Oftentimes this change has led to farming systems that are not well designed to maintain sustainability. Some of her interests are finding ways to design agroforestry systems to meet the needs of local farmers or the agenda of national governments in Latin America. The design of sound agroforestry systems that have high adoption rates take into account a myriad of factors that include social, economic, physical, biological, ecological, and cultural aspects.

Through this focus she has developed, prepared, and conducted farm diversification and homegarden seminars to local community groups in Latin America. She developed the agroforestry diversification component of a USDA-Purdue-Cornell project that was implemented in the Upper Humuya Region of Honduras. This included the coordination and production of didactic materials for agroforestry, conduction of training sessions, formation of a farmer diversification group, and implementation of soil conservation measures in the region. A farmer diversification manual was produced that was based on the ecological conditions of the region to increase the use of trees in agricultural systems. She conducted a baseline study of economic and biological implications of agricultural diversification in Costa Rica in different coffee producing regions and developed and taught a master’s course on agroforestry planning; where the students must diagnose and design new agroforestry systems that meet the needs of the local farmer since 2004. Tamara has played an integral role in the ornamental working group at CATIE that has linked with the Entomology Department at Purdue University to write the first Clean Stock Program with USDA-APHIS and the Ministry of Agriculture in Costa Rica. This as well as another project funded by USDA-FAS helped reduce pest incidence in exported tropical flowers and indoor house plants intended for the USA. Tamara is also interested in the interface of the agricultural landscape and its impact on biodiversity conservation as well as water and soil conservation. Her main focus has been on developing indices for biodiversity conservation and sustainability to better design agricultural systems taking these factors into account. She was involved with a World Bank project helped write the policy for payment for environmental services within silvopastoral systems for Latin America. She has students working on measuring functional diversity factors in varying agroforestry systems to determine which systems serve best for biodiversity conservation while maintaining farm sustainability. She has also been interested in biofuel production that has been impacting large areas of Latin America. She has led the working group to write proposals for the sustainable production of biofuels within the current agricultural practices to reduce competition between food and energy production. She has served as a reviewer for the criteria being established for the sustainable production of biofuels through the international initiative, Roundtable for the Sustainable Production of Biofuels. Her current area of deep interest is in the sustainable production and use of biochar to mimic the black soils of the Amazon called Terra Preta (see the book 1491 by Charles Mann). These soils are able to sequester carbon for hundreds of years and can improve soil fertility in areas that lack important plant mineral nutrients for plant survival and growth. Her current project in the Osa Peninsula is a pilot project to determine how best to design these systems but is also looking at ways to utilize biochar in Indiana and other areas of the world. RELEVANT REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES (published or accepted) Benjamin TJ, Montañez PI, Jiménez JJ, Gillespie AR. 2001. Carbon, water, and nutrient flux in Maya

homegardens in the Yucatán Peninsula. Agroforestry Systems, 53:103-111 Benjamin TJ, Hoover WL, Seifert JR, Gillespie AR. 2000. Defining competition vectors in a temperate

alleycropping system in the Midwestern USA: 4. The economic return of ecological knowledge. Agroforestry Systems 48:79-93.

Prado J, Casanoves F, Hidalgo E, Benjamin TJ, Sadof C. 2008. Effects of production practices on the

abundance of quarantine pests in Dracaena marginata in Costa Rican production fields. Journal of Economic Entomology 101(6):1779-1785.

Florian E, Harvey CA, Finegan B, Benjamin TJ, Soto G. 2008. Efecto de la complejidad estructural y el

contexto paisajístico en la avifauna de sistemas agroforestales cafetaleros. The Neotropical Ornithology Society. 19 (Suppl.)

Gillespie AR, Jose S, Mengel DB, Hoover WL, Pope PE, Seifert JR, Biehle DJ, Stall T, Benjamin TJ.

2000. Defining competition vectors in a temperate alleycropping system in the Midwestern USA: 1. Production physiology. Agroforestry Systems 48:25-40.

RELEVANT PEER REVIEWED EXTENSION PUBLICATIONS Limongi R, Harvey CA, Jiménez F, Benjamin TJ. 2004. Caracterización del sistema agroforestal maíz

con árboles dispersos en la cuenca Río Carrizal, Manabí, Ecuador. Agroforestería en las Américas. 11(41-42):50-55.

Esquivel H, Ibrahim M, Harvey CA, Villanueva C, Benjamin TJ, Sinclair FL. 2003. Árboles dispersos en

potreros de finca ganaderas en un ecosistema seco de Costa Rica. Agroforestería en las Américas. 10(39-40):24-29.

Yépez C, Muschler R, Benjamin TJ, Musálem M. 2002. Selección de especies para sombra en cafetales

diversificados de Chiapas, México. Agroforestería en las Américas. 9(35-36):55-61. Jose S, Benjamin TJ, Stall T, Gillespie AR, Hoover WL, Mengel DB, Seifert JR, Biehle DJ. 1997.

Biology and economics of a black walnut-corn alley cropping system. Knowledge for the Future of Black Walnut: Proceedings of the Fifth Black Walnut Symposium, July 28-31, 1996, Springfield, MO. USDA For. Serv. NCFES General Technical Report NC-191.

May DM, Settle J, Benjamin TJ. 1997. Residential fuelwood consumption and production in Indiana,

1996. Res Bull NC-188. St. Paul, MN: USDA, For. Serv., NCFES. 29 p. SERVICE 2004 to present: Agroforestry Systems Reviewer EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Ph.D. 2000, Purdue University, Forest Biology M.Sc. 1996, Purdue University, Forest Economics B.A. 1990, Hamline University, Biology and Education 3/03-present Research Scientist, Purdue University-CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica 7/02-2/03 International Consultant, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica 7/00-7/02 Postdoctoral Scientist, Purdue University-CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica

Teaching: Purdue: FNR course World Forests and Society (Karen can you find this number?), Costa Rica Maymester course on Biodiversity in Agricultural and Natural Landscapes CATIE: Agroforestry Planning, Agroforestry Methodologies

HONORS AND AWARDS 2009 Erasmus Mundus SUTROFOR Fellowship 2007 CATIE Agroforestry Teacher of the Year

PHOTOS

Oil Palm biochar field trial in San Juan, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica (Photo credit: Gabriela Soto)

Teaching an agroforestry planning course in Panama (Photo credit: Ignacia Holmes)

Teaching an agroforestry planning course in Panama with the Emberá indigenous group (Photo credit: Ignacia Holmes)

Inspecting Dracaena marginata ornamental plants in the Purdue/CATIE Clean Stock Program in Costa Rica (Photo credit: Eduardo Hidalgo)

Teaching the OTS (Organization for Tropical Studies) Agroecology Course (Photo credit: Blanca Salguero)

Working on the Hurricane Mitch US AID Project in Honduras, helping farmers establish soil conservation practices in their farms

Purdue 2006 Maymester Study Abroad course in a banana plantation in Costa Rica

Inspecting Dracaena marginata plants in La Virgen de Sarapiqui in Costa Rica

Birdwatching with her daughter Fatima Ruby in La Marta Wildlife Refuge, Pejibeye, Costa Rica

Grandpa Hoover and Grandma Peggy with Sofia Estela in Minnesota

Allan Esquivel, Fatima and Sofia and Tamara in May 2008