Biographical Information

Lauren Oakes is happily adjusting to sunshine and fresh greens as she moves from life in Juneau, Alaska, to her PhD studies at Stanford’s E-IPER. She graduated from Brown University in 2004 with an A.B. in Environmental Studies, focusing in land management, and Visual Arts, focusing in Photography and Film at the Rhode Island School of Design. She has consistently strived to combine these interests in land use projects throughout the American West and South America. Lauren is a geographer at heart, captivated by the social and political drivers of resource extraction and land use and the social and ecological implications of changing ecosystems.

When her head is not in the books or behind a camera, Lauren loves anything outdoors from paddling to road biking and even to hunting and fishing (in the Alaska wild).

Research Interests

Lauren comes to Stanford as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Her research will focus on identifying and evaluating opportunities for changes in land use to improve industrial practices while balancing support for local food systems in Mato Grosso, Brazil. She is interested in how international trade markets for monoculture crops such as soy and corn direct land use in the headwaters region of the Amazon; the social and ecological implications of such agricultural expansion; and the balance among food production for export, ecosystem services provided by conserved forest stands, and reliance on fisheries as an important food source. Her course of study will integrate ecology, geography, and international trade (among other things!). Planning to bring her documentary interests into the field alongside her research, Lauren will incorporate training in science communications and journalism into her PhD studies at Stanford. (And she’s so grateful to be at E-IPER where she can take such an interdisciplinary approach to research!)

Professional Activities

Lauren’s undergraduate interests in deforestation practices in South America (Chile, Brazilian Amazon), inspired her to explore the temperate region of Southeast Alaska. In Alaska, Lauren worked as the Conservation Programs Officer for Trout Unlimited, leading the Alaska program’s science and policy efforts to assess potential risks to fisheries and water resources in Bristol Bay associated with mining development. Lauren became fascinated by Alaska’s desire to support changes in land use to supply market demands for non-renewable resources, while also maintaining its productive fisheries. How do we evaluate ecosystem services and trade-offs human activities may impose?

In collaboration with Felt Soul Media (www.feltsoulmedia.com), Lauren balanced her research and policy work in Alaska with documentary filmmaking and co-produced Red Gold in 2008 (www.redgoldfilm.com). Lauren recently toured Indonesia as a Citizen Ambassador for the U.S. Department of State, presenting Red Gold with the American Documentary Showcase. The program focused on cross-cultural exchange regarding local issues of food and water resources and documentary filmmaking as an educational tool. Working with reporters from FRONTLINE/PBS, Lauren went back to Alaska this summer for research and production of a more in-depth documentary looking at mining development in Bristol Bay. The program will air on FRONTLINE sometime in 2010.