López Sampson, Arlene
Arlene holds a PhD in Agricultural Sciences from James Cook University, QLD, Australia. Also, she obtained an MSc in Tropical Agroforestry from CATIE. Arlene has extensive knowledge of tree growth and value in agricultural landscapes.
Currently, Arlene is the regional coordinator of a program on ecosystem-based adaptation in Latin America to increase community resilience to climate change. Her working experience includes several tropical countries such as Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Jamaica, and Australia (Cairns).
Research interests
Her research interests are related to tree diversity and function in working landscapes. Also, the following topics:
- Perennial agroforestry systems
- Forestry
- Agroforestry design
- Tree physiology
- Adoption and decision-making
- Tree/Forest governance
Mentoring
Over the years, Arlene has supervised more than 15 students in agroforestry and tree value at the master's and undergraduate levels.
Grants and consultancy
Arlene has participated in consultancies for the World Bank, SICA-CAC, NESTLÉ, ROMEX, CIFOR-ICRAF, and Wescorp Agarwood in topics related to:
- Tree physiology: links for selection of high-yielding trees. Australia.
- Coffee and Cocoa agroforestry systems and their link to tree cover change. Latin America.
- Coffee and Cocoa agroforestry design (shade tree component). Honduras and Perú.
Policy Engagement
She has worked with local and subnational authorities and grassroots organizations to foster tree cover change in working landscapes and to realize the value of trees outside the forests. For example, engagement through the Forest, Trees, and Agroforestry Program led by CIFOR, where sentinel landscapes were set up in Nicaragua and Honduras to monitor key aspects of the landscape to value agroforestry for livelihoods and tree cover change.
Other examples include the work carried out in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Ecuador with the ministries of environment and agriculture, at the national level. At the local level, the efforts focused on working with municipalities to scale up ecosystem-based adaptation approaches in selected territories.
Awards
Arlene received the Australian Award Scholarship (AusAID) and was also granted different scholarships to carry out her undergraduate and master's degree research from the CASCA project and the Cacao Centro America Project, respectively.