Dr. Peter W. Stahl (Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria) will present his research in Ecuador: "History, Archaeology, and Ecology in the Galápagos Islands"
 

This presentation explores issues involving conservation biology, the emergence of novel ecosystems, and the historic production of humanized landscapes in Ecuador’s Galápagos National Park. It considers the development of a unique and internationally renowned biota and the inevitable materialization of a “Galápagos Paradox” when human interest undermines those features of the ecosystem that originally attracted human interest. The image of a people-free natural laboratory for seeing and understanding evolution is essential to the existence of a lucrative ecotourism industry, yet it obscures a temporally deeper and more complex association with humans which can be explored through archaeological and historical sources. The presentation summarizes recent research undertaken at El Progreso, a 19th century industrial scale sugar plantation in the interior highlands of San Cristóbal island that explores landscape transformation in the middle of one of the world’s premier nature destinations.