Social Scientists

Alaka Wali

Cultural Anthropologist
USA

An anthropologist, Alaka Wali received her doctorate at Columbia University, New York. She has been participating in the Rapid Inventory program since 2000, leading the social component. She is a specialist in rapid participatory assessments and has worked extensively in Central and South America and also in urban regions in the United States. Alaka is responsible for the coordination of a range of programs designed to enhance interdisciplinary work at The Field Museum, strengthen public programming on cultural issues, and promote efforts to strengthen the link between the Museum and the Chicago Community.

Mario Parona

Social Scientist
USA

Mario is trained in tropical forestry and has worked in the Amazon for two decades. He is Peruvian and has expertise in community-managed forestry programs for both indigenous and traditional peasant communities. He is on staff at The Field Museum and contributes to capacity-building programs for protected-area management in both Peru and Bolivia.

Dora Ramirez

Social Scientist
Peru

Dora is a nurse with a Master’s Degree in social sciences, with a focus on intercultural interactions and gender relations. She has more than 12 years of experience in planning, coordination, management, and evaluation and monitoring of projects with indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon. She has spent the last several years working closely with the Secoya people living along the Napo and Putumayo rivers in Peru, near the Zona Reservada Güeppí.

Teofilo Torres

Social Scientist
Peru

Teofilo Torres is the head of INRENA-Güeppí, the team in charge of administering the Zona Reservada Güeppí, the area in Peru set aside for conservation. He is trained as a social scientist and he conducted the first socio-economic survey in the area. He grew up in Güeppí, in a village along the Putumayo River.