Ethnobiology, community-based conservation, biocultural diversity, sustainable development
Dr. Gilmore joined the faculty of the School of Integrative Studies (formerly New Century College) in 2008 where he is passionate about using an interdisciplinary approach to both research and teaching. Dr. Gilmore has worked extensively with the Maijuna and other indigenous groups of the Peruvian Amazon. He helped the Maijuna establish an indigenous federation in 2004 and has worked with them on community-based biocultural conservation projects since 1999. Current projects include helping the Maijuna push for the establishment of a protected area that is 391,000 hectares (22% larger than Yosemite National Park). This area would formally and legally protect the ancestral homeland and biocultural resources of the Maijuna for future generations. He is also conducting research on the economically, ecologically, and culturally important palm Mauritia flexuosa in Maijuna lands and throughout the Peruvian Amazon. Additionally, he is working with a group of George Mason University faculty and students on developing community-based solutions to drinking water and sanitation challenges that the Maijuna are currently experiencing in their communities. Dr. Gilmore collaborates with a wide variety of organizations including the Field Museum of Chicago, San Diego Zoo, Nature and Cultural International, and the Rainforest Conservation Fund, among others.
Dr. Gilmore is an affiliate faculty member of both Environmental Science & Policy and the Latin American Studies Program at George Mason University. He also holds a Research Collaborator position at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, and is on the Ethics Committee of the Society for Economic Botany. Additionally, he serves on the board of directors of two non-governmental organizations focused on the conservation and sustainable use of the Amazon basin and is the technical advisor to the Maijuna indigenous federation (Federación de Comunidades Nativas Maijuna).
The Maijuna Biocultural Conservation Project
Management and Sustainable Use of Mauritia flexuosa in Maijuna Ancestral Territory
Regional Assessment of Mauritia flexuosa Fruit Harvest in the Peruvian Amazon
O'Bryhim, J. R., E. C. M. Parsons, M. P. Gilmore, and S. L. Lance. 2016. Evaluating support for shark conservation among artisanal fishing communities in Costa Rica. Marine Policy 71: 1-9.
Chen, C., and M. P. Gilmore. 2015. Biocultural rights: a new paradigm for protecting natural and cultural resources of indigenous communities. The International Indigenous Policy Journal 6(3): 1-19.
Young, J. C., and M. P. Gilmore. 2014. Subaltern empowerment in the geoweb: tensions between publicity and privacy. Antipode 46(2): 574-591.
Gilmore, M. P., B. A. Endress, and C. M. Horn. 2013. The socio-cultural importance of Mauritia flexuosa palm swamps (aguajales) and implications for multi-use management in two Maijuna communities of the Peruvian Amazon. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 9: 1-23.
Endress, B. A., C. M. Horn, and M. P. Gilmore. 2013. Mauritia flexuosa palm swamps: composition, structure and implications for conservation and management. Forest Ecology and Management 302: 346-353.
Young, J. C., and M. P. Gilmore. 2013. The spatial politics of affect and emotion in participatory GIS. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 103(4): 808-823.
Gilmore, M. P., and J. C. Young. 2012. The use of participatory mapping in ethnobiological research, biocultural conservation, and community empowerment – a case study from the Peruvian Amazon. Journal of Ethnobiology 32(1): 6-29.
Horn, C., Gilmore, M. P., and B. A. Endress. 2012. Ecological and socioeconomic factors influencing aguaje (Mauritia flexuosa) resource management in two indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon. Forest Ecology and Management 267: 93-103.
NCLC 102: Global Networks and Communities – Food and Sovereignty (6 Credits)
NCLC 120: The Natural World (6 Credits)
NCLC 334: Environmental Justice (4 credits)
NCLC 402: Plants and People - Sustenance, Ceremony, and Sustainability (6 Credits)
Ph.D. in Botany, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
B.S. in Biological Sciences, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado
Member, Ethics Committee, Society for Economic Botany
Member, Board of Directors, Rainforest Conservation Fund
Member, Board of Directors, Center for Amazon Community Ecology
Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Botany in Action (BIA) Fellowship Program, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
Technical Advisor, Federación de Comunidades Nativas Maijuna (FECONAMAI)
Maijuna Project Faculty Advisor, GMU Amazon WaSH Project
Amazon WaSH Project to Start Funding Campaign for 2015 Peru Trip, GMU Website
Mason Community Joins in a Crowdfunding Effort to Give an Imperiled Indigenous Group a Voice, SIS Website
Mason Team Helps Maijuna with Clean Water Project in the Peruvian Amazon, GMU Website
Ethnobiologist Helps Peruvian Maijuna Chart and Protect Ancestral Lands, SIS Newsletter
Mason Professor Enlists Student Engineers for Project in Peruvian Amazon, Broadside
Radio Interview about Maijuna Research, National Public Radio (NPR)
Ethnobiologist Helps Peruvian Maijuna Chart and Protect Ancestral Lands, GMU Website
Loreto: The Maijuna struggle to reclaim their heritage (Spanish or English), El Comercio, Lima, Peru
Mason's Clean Water Project in the Peruvian Amazon, Social Action and Integrative Learning (SAIL), GMU
Student’s Beekeeping Project Empowers Peruvian Indigenous Group, GMU Website
Conservation Solutions for Palms and People, Institute for Conservation Research – San Diego Zoo
Gilmore: Connecting Plants and People, Center for Amazon Community Ecology (CACE)