Lab members Marie-Claude and Olivia, and lab PI Yann, presented their research at the 2024 Conference of Latin American Geography in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from May 22 to 26! They talked about capturing land control dynamics in early commodity frontiers (Olivia), about spillovers in forest carbon projects (Marie-Claude), and about smallholder strategies in the face of large-scale land acquisitions in the Gran Chaco.

Yann conducted another field season in the Pilcomayo River area in the Paraguayan Chaco in April/May. He first disseminated a booklet summarizing the history of the region, adapted from a paper about to be published - a promise he had made on earlier visits. He also continued inquiring about land-use dynamics, particularly the question of land-use intensification through pastures, and the moral economy of land. Fortunately, this time, the temperature was much more bearable, although rains made transportation difficult at times - the roads in the Pilcomayo turn to a very slippery mud as soon as it rains!