Current members
Yann le Polain de Waroux (Associate Professor)
I am an Associate Professor at McGill University, jointly appointed by the Institute for the Study of International Development and the Department of Geography. I am a development and environmental geographer specializing in issues of land use and livelihood changes in rural areas. I have a PhD in Geography from the Georges Lemaître Centre for Earth and Climate Research (TECLIM) at Uclouvain, Belgium, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University before joining McGill (see my Curriculum Vitae).
Louise Fontan-Ducret (PhD)
I am interested in frontier dynamics and the socio-economic dynamics behind deforestation and land-use change in South America. My background in literature, sociology and anthropology has made me a strong advocate of multidisciplinary approaches. I have previously worked on the Chiquitanía region in Bolivia, and have now shifted to the Gran Chaco region, shared between Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay, for my PhD research. Contact Louise.
Ariadna Mora (MSc)
My academic background is research-oriented and interdisciplinary. I hold a degree in architecture from the University of Panama, where I have conducted research projects in the former Panama Canal Zone on topics such as urbanism, thermal comfort, land cover, public spaces, transitional spaces, heritage, revitalization of public spaces, and sustainability. In 2023, I collaborated on projects with the Research Center of Social and Political Science (CIEPS AIP) in Panama. For my Master's degree, I plan to do research on land-use frontiers in the Darién region of Panama. Contact Ariadna.
Ana Laura Llanes (PhD, Associate member)
I am writing my PhD thesis at the University of San Luis in Argentina, in the Grupo de Estudios Ambientales, under the supervision of Esteban Jobbágy. My thesis research focuses on agricultural expansion and soil degradation in the dry plains of Argentina and aims to evaluate the change in agricultural productivity and the economic value of land as well as to understand the responses of producers and government agencies to this rapid transformation. I am currently working with the LENDEV lab to study land acquisitions and the formation of Mennonite colonies in San Luis Province, based on ethnographic work in these colonies. Contact Ana Laura.
Mauricio Aníbal Suárez (PhD, Associate member)
I graduated in sociology from the University of Santiago del Estero (UNSE) and am a PhD student at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in Argentina. In my research I analyze the communalization of the peasant/indigenous sector from the Chaco santiagueño region, Argentina. I focus on the memories and territorialities constructed by communities in the context of violent conflicts over the defense of their lands. I analyze the forms of human exploitation and the exploitation of space by cattle ranches in the 19th century and by logging companies in the 20th century, and their impact on the ways in which space is inhabited today. To do this, I combine the analysis of historical documents, ethnography, social cartography & GIS. I am joining the LENDEV lab in 2025-2026 to further develop the spatial dimensions of my work. Contact Mauricio.
Hannah Zhao (Undergraduate Research Assistant)
I hold a joint degree in international development and health geography from McGill University, in which I focused on decolonial and developmental geographies. I am most interested in the role of culture and social networks on development, from land use decisions to climate resilience. I am working with the LENDEV Lab to study transnational Mennonite networks in Latin America. Elsewhere, I work in climate and health hazard mitigation in the Greater Boston Area.  Contact Hannah.

Lab Alumni and past members

Graduate students
Undergraduate honours
  • Aris Kalofoutis (B.A. Hons. Geography,  2022-2023)         
  • Lucy MacKinnon (B.A. Hons. International Development Studies, 2021)       
  • Anna O’Driscoll (B.Sc. Hons. Geography, 2020-2021)     
  • Marine Loison (B.A. Hons. International Development Studies, 2019)
  • Sidney Kreimes (B.A. Hons. International Development Studies, 2018)

Visiting scholars
  • Mayra Elena Gavito (Researcher, visit for a year on sabbatical from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2024-2025) 
  • Christian Levers (Postdoctoral scholar, visiting from University of British Columbia, summer 2019)
  • Diego Cabrol (Postdoctoral scholar, visiting from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, summer 2019 and winter 2021)
  • Victoria Junquera (PhD, visiting from ETH Zürich, spring 2019)
  • Vivian Valencia (Postdoctoral scholar, visiting from University of Michigan, spring & summer 2018)

Independent studies projects
Research assistants
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