I have been doing long term comparative research on historical ecology and the history of science. The main research questions  for my long term perspective of historical ecology include the following:

• Why and how religion defines the management of risk in pre-industrial societies?
• Why and how disasters have shaped the environment and the development of societies?   
• Why do risky societies collapse? 

For case studies, I have conducted research in Colombia (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Serrania de San Jacinto, Mesay River drainage, Trapecio Amazonico), in Ecuador (Julcuy area, Manabi, and Galapagos), and in Peru (Huaraz-Caraz).  In the last three years I have focused my research in Ecuador and Peru.

Another line of research derived from historical ecology is what I call “plants’ social lives”; I have been paying attention to the interaction of specific species of plants and how they shape our human behavior.

 

On a social history of science, my focus has been on issues surrounding the following questions:

• Why has Latin American archaeology developed a nationalistic perspective?
• What role do German nationalist approaches play in anthropology and archaeology, such as in Latin American Archaeology?  
• How can we explain the acceptance of colonialist and imperialist archaeological agendas in the history of archaeology? 

To study the Colonialism and Nationalist perspective, I look at the main agents of past colonialist and nationalist approaches who were German and Austrian researchers, such as Max Uhle, Otto Shultz-Kamphenkel, Erasmus (Gerardo) Reichel-Dolmatoff, and Max Schmidt. These last two researchers are the focus of my more recent works. Concerning Latin America, the studies focus on comparative approaches to the historical development of the archaeological discipline in the context of national identities’ formations.