Summer 2026 FT Research Fellowship: "Land Use Decision-Making in the Bolivian Amazon: The Case of Ranchers"
The King Center on Global Development's Summer Undergraduate Full-Time Research Assistant Program offers opportunities for fieldwork and research experience to matriculated, Stanford, undergraduates interested in global poverty and development across all academic disciplines.
When Stanford University travel policies allow, selected students spend up to 12 weeks in a low- or middle-income country conducting full-time research for a King Center faculty affiliate. Each research assistant receives a stipend of approximately $8,500 that covers most associated costs including travel, lodging, and incidental expenses. Financial aid of up to $1,500 is also awarded to students who qualify.
Students are welcome to apply to multiple opportunities but must apply to each faculty research project separately. Students may only accept one project if they are offered multiple opportunities.
If you have problems submitting your application, please report issues through the SOLO platform with a screenshot that includes the URL and the full page. Please email kingcenter_programs@stanford.edu to also let us know of your issue(s).
RESEARCH PROJECT SUMMARY:
This research employs a case study approach in Eastern Bolivia to better understand the social-ecological factors (e.g., climate change, land succession, migration, globalization) that are impacting–and possibly restructuring–patterns of land use and land control in the Amazon Basin. Through semi-structured interviews with ranchers and the development of a regional survey, this project aims to better understand how this understudied and diverse group of actors is making decisions about natural resource management and the implications of these decisions for the social-ecological future of the region.
Importantly, cattle ranchers are an overlooked group in the field of critical geography. Yet, these actors manage vast territories across the Amazon Basin and thus have potential to mobilize land use transformations as they seek to respond to diverse social-ecological stressors, including climate change and land succession. As such, this project will examine the factors driving the intensification and expansion of commodity agricultural production in the Amazon Basin and how ranchers are responding to this trend, including, for example, through the diversification of their production systems. This research will provide key insights regarding land managers’ decision-making and social-ecological trade-offs in agricultural commodity frontiers to inform pathways (policies and programs) that galvanize and support the social-ecological future of the Amazon Basin. The research fellow will assist with literature reviews as well as qualitative and quantitative data analyses related to this multi-year, multi-part study.
Research mentor: Professor Nicole Ardoin
Dates: A minimum of ten weeks during summer quarter 2025.
WHAT YOU WILL DO:
The research assistant will work closely together and in collaboration with the research team to:
- Support the development of annotated bibliographies and a narrative literature review regarding land use and land change, land rent, culture, social-ecological systems and trade-offs, commodity frontiers, climate change, sustainable development, and ranching
- Historical analysis of the ranching sector, alongside other commodities (e.g., rubber, Brazil nuts) in Eastern Bolivia and neighboring regions
- Qualitative interview transcription and analysis
- Survey development and analysis
- Geospatial analysis of land use and land change in Eastern Bolivia
- Stanford undergraduate students in good academic standing, and planning to return to Stanford in autumn 2026, are eligible to apply (co-terms in graduate tuition status are ineligible)
- Not currently doing an honors thesis or receiving funding from other sources during the summer
- Not working other summer jobs
- All majors are welcome
- Strong research and writing skills
- Must have good interpersonal skills and an ability to adapt well to cross-cultural contexts
In addition, specific qualification requirements:
- Advanced Spanish language skills required (reading, writing, speaking)
- Experience conducting literature reviews desired, but not required
- Experience with qualitative research methods desired, but not required
- Experience with quantitative analysis of survey data
- Intermediate-Advanced geospatial analysis skills desired, but not required (QGIS, ArcGIS, Google Earth Engine)
Time Commitment:
- All research assistants are required to work full time, i.e., 35-40 hours per week for a minimum of 10 weeks during the summer quarter. This should be your only commitment during this time period.
To Apply:
Along with the application, applicants are asked to submit a resume or CV, and a Stanford transcript.
Please also answer:
- What experience do you have with data cleaning, data visualization, and statistical analyses?
- What coding language(s) do you have experience with?
For questions regarding this opportunity, please contact:
