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Ivette Perfecto
Bunyan Bryant Collegiate Professor of Environmental Justice
Ecosystem Science and Management
Food Systems
Conservation + Restoration
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3541 Dana
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About
Ivette Perfecto is the Bunyan Bryant Collegiate Professor of Environmental Justice. She is an interdisciplinary scholar that works in agroecology with a focus on the intersection between biodiversity, agriculture, and food sovereignty. Her research examines arthropod-mediated ecosystem services in agricultural and agroforestry systems with an emphasis on understanding ecological interactions that result in autonomous pest control and reduction of pesticide use. She also works on the spatial ecology of the coffee agroecosystem and is interested more broadly in the links between small-scale sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and food sovereignty in Latin America. Currently, she is conducting research in Mexico and Puerto Rico. She is co-author of four books, Breakfast of Biodiversity, Nature’s Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty, Coffee Agroecology, and Ecological Complexity and Agroecology.
Professor Perfecto is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, as well as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Senior Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. She also received an Honorary Doctoral Degree (honoris causa) in Education from the Universidad Sagrado Corazón, her alma mater in Puerto Rico. She was one the lead authors of the International Assessment of Science, Technology and Knowledge for Development (IAASTD). She is a long-time member of Science for the People and the New World Agriculture and Ecology Group (NWAEG).
Publications
Vandermeer, J. and I. Perfecto. 2023. Intransitivity as a dynamic assembly engine of competitive communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 120 (15) e2217372120. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.221737212
Perfecto, I. and S. M. Philpott. 2023. Ants and ecosystem functions and services in urban areas: reflection on a diverse literature. Myrmecological News 33: 103-122. dio.org/10.25849/myrmecol.news_033:103
Shepon, A, T. Wu, C. Kremen, T. Dayan, I. Perfecto, C. Golden. 2023. Exploring future food systems in the context of emerging zoonotic diseases using scenario exploration. Lancet Planetary Health 7(4): E329-E335. doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00007-4
Aponte*, B. and I. Perfecto. 2023. Shaded-coffee agroecosystem supports high levels of ant biodiversity regardless of shade tree species planted by farmers. Ecosphere 14(2): e-4442. doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4442
Hajian-Forooshani*, Z., I. Perfecto, J. Vandermeer. 2023. Novel community assembly and the control of fungal pathogen in coffee agroecosystems. Biological Control 117: 105099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2022.105099
Avelino, J., S. Gagliardi, I. Perfecto., M. Isaac, T. Liebig, J. Vandermeer, I. Merle, Z. Haijian-Forooshni*, N. Motisi. 2023. Tree effects on coffee leaf rust at field and landscape scale. Plant Disease 107(2): 1804-FE. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-08-21-1804-FE
Morris*, J and I. Perfecto. 2022. A dominant non-consumptive effect mediates pest control and multi-predator interactions in a coffee agroecosystem. Ecological Applications 32(7):e2653. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2653
Hsieh*, H.Y., J. Vandermeer and I. Perfecto. 2022. Higher order interactions affect survival and sex ratio of a predatory beetle. Science Reports 12: 19378 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23763-z
Mayorga*, I., J. L. Vargas*, Z. Hajian-Forooshani*, J. Lugo Perez, J. Vandermeer, I. Perfecto. 2022. Tradeoffs and synergies among ecosystem services, biodiversity conservation, and food security in coffee agroforestry. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change 5: https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.690164
Capnerhurst*, H., A. P. Fischer, and I. Perfecto. 2022. Invasion adaptation: A socio-ecological assessment of cherry growers’ adaptation potential to spotted wing drosophila. Human Ecology 50(4): 711-723.
Vandermeer, J., J. Flores*, J. Longmeyer*, I. Perfecto. 2022. Spatiotemporal foraging dynamics of Solenopsis invicta and the spatial structure of interspecific competition. Environmental Entomology https://doi.org/10.1093/ee/nvac058
Anjos, D., A. Tena, V.J. Arleu, R. Carvalho, H. M. Torezan-Silingardi, K. Del-Claro, I. Perfecto. 2022. Global effects of ants on pest control: boosted in agroforestry. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 287: 20221316 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1316
Li*, K. Hajian-Forooshani*, C. Su*, I. Perfecto and J. Vandermeer. 2022. Climate change and resistant varieties mediate critical transition in coffee rust disease. Scientific Reports 12: 1564 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05362-0
Benitez, M., J. A. Rosell, I. Perfecto. 2022. Mathematical modelling and complex systems in agroecology (Editorial). Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 560. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.829551
Iverson*, A., R. Burham, I. Perfecto, N. Vandenberg* and J. Vandermeer. 2022. A tropical lady beetle, Diomus lupusapudoves (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), deceives potential enemies to predate an ant-protected coffee pest through putative chemical mimicry. International Journal of Tropical Insect Science 42(1): 947-953. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-021-00621-5
Research
2021-2026: Transformative Food Systems Fellows Program: Cultivating Resilient Agriculture (USDA-NIFA- Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) Grants Program, Jennifer Blesh, Brendan O’Neil, Meha Jain and Lesli Hoey, Co-PIs
2019-2023: Fusing satellite and drone data with GIS to create new analytical decision support tools for varying farm types (USDA-NIFA) Kevin Atkins, PI, Ivette Perfecto, Co-PI.
2019-2022: The ecology of critical transitions in pest control in the coffee agroecosystem (National Science Foundation) John Vandermeer, Co-PI
2017-2023: Understanding multifunctional landscapes within the Model Forest of Puerto Rico (USDA-NIFA), John Vandermeer and Javier Lugo, Co-PIs1989
2018-2023: Reimagining Puerto Rico’s energy and food systems through community engagement (Graham Sustainability Institute Transformation Grant) José Alfaro, John Vandermeer, Javier Lugo, Mariangie Ramos, Olgaly Ramos, Lorenzo Salecetti, Yanira Sanchez, Co-PIs
2018-2022: Evaluating Hurricane Damage and Resilience in Coffee Agroecosystems in Puerto Rico (USDA-NIFA) John Vandermeer and Javier Lugo, Co-PIs
Education
1989 Ph.D., Ecology and Natural Resources, University of Michigan
1982 M.S., Biology, University of Michigan
1977 B.S., Cum Laude, Biology, Universidad Sagrado Corazón, Puerto Rico
Affiliations
Sustainable Food Systems Initiative, University of Michigan
Program in the Environment, University of Michigan
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