Ethnobiology, community-based conservation, biocultural diversity, sustainable development
Dr. Michael Gilmore joined the faculty of the School of Integrative Studies (SIS) in 2008 where he is passionate about using an interdisciplinary approach to both research and teaching. He has over twenty years of experience working with the Maijuna indigenous group of the Peruvian Amazon on community-based biocultural conservation and sustainability projects. Dr. Gilmore has published widely in a variety of scholarly journals spanning the fields of ethnobiology, geography, ecology, and policy. He is also the producer of the award-winning documentary film Guardians of the Forest (2020), which chronicles the Maijuna people’s fight for their biologically rich ancestral lands and cultural survival. Dr. Gilmore developed and regularly co-teaches Conservation and Sustainability of the Amazon Rainforest, a field course that takes place in Maijuna lands. In addition to his work at George Mason University, Dr. Gilmore founded and is president of OnePlanet, a non-profit organization that partners with the Maijuna.
Ongoing community-based work with the Maijuna indigenous group includes a wide variety of projects focused on:
- Community organization and well-being
- Biocultural conservation
- Sustainable development
Wingfield, A., and M. P. Gilmore. 2023. A sweet and potent harvest. Places Journal. https://placesjournal.org/article/beekeeping-and-maijuna-empowerment-in-the-peruvian-amazon/
Griffiths, B. M., M. Bowler, and M. P. Gilmore. 2023. Hunter territoriality creates refuges for threatened primates. Environmental Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892923000061
Griffiths, B. M., T. Gonzales, and M. P. Gilmore. 2023. Spatiotemporal variation in hunting in a riverine indigenous community in the Amazon. Biodiversity and Conservation. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02535-1
Griffiths, B. M., and M. P. Gilmore. 2022. Differential use of game species in an Amazonian Indigenous community: navigating economics, subsistence, and social norms. Journal of Ethnobiology 42(3): 1-12.
Griffiths, B. M., M. Bowler, J. Kolowski, J. Stabach, E. L. Benson, and M. P. Gilmore. 2022. Revisiting optimal foraging theory (OFT) in a changing Amazon: implications for conservation and management. Human Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-022-00320-w
Griffiths, B. M., J. Kolowski, M. Bowler, M. P. Gilmore, F. Lewis, E. L. Benson, and J. Stabach. 2022. Assessing the accuracy of distance- and interview-based measures of hunting pressure. Conservation Science and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.592
Griffiths, B. M., Y. Jin, L. G. Griffiths, and M. P. Gilmore. 2022. Physical, landscape, and chemical properties of Amazonian interior forest mineral licks. Environmental Geochemistry and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01412-8
Wengerd, N., and M. P. Gilmore. 2022. Participatory biocultural resource mapping as a tool in navigating conservation trade-offs. Ecology and Society 27(3): 43. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13273-270343
Romulo, C. L., M. P. Gilmore, B. A. Endress, and C. Horn. 2022. Mauritia flexuosa fruit production increases with increasing palm height in the Peruvian Amazon. Plants People Planet 4: 599-604. DOI: 10.1002/ppp3.10299
Romulo, C., C. Kennedy, M. P. Gilmore, and B. Endress. 2022. Sustainable harvest training in a common pool resource setting in the Peruvian Amazon: limitations and opportunities. Trees, Forests and People 7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2021.100185
Griffiths, B. M., W. J. Cooper, M. Bowler, M. P. Gilmore, and D. Luther. 2021. Dissimilarities in species assemblages among Amazonian mineral licks. Biotropica 53: 1255-1260. DOI: 10.1111/btp.13012
INTS 102: Global Networks and Communities – Food and Sovereignty (6 Credits)
INTS 334: Environmental Justice (4 credits)
INTS 402: Plants and People - Sustenance, Ceremony, and Sustainability (6 Credits)
INTS 498: Environmental and Sustainability Studies in the Amazon Rainforest (4 credits)
INTS 498: Sustainable Solutions in the Developing World (2 credits)
Ph.D. in Botany, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
B.S. in Biological Sciences, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado
President and Founder, OnePlanet
Technical Advisor, Federación de Comunidades Nativas Maijuna (FECONAMAI)
Member, Board of Directors, Center for Amazon Community Ecology
A Winning Record: Both of Dr. Mike Gilmore’s PhD Advisees are Awarded 2020 Summer Impact Research Grants, GMU Website
State Department Grants Help Mason Further its Mission as a University for the World, GMU Website
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 (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)