Michael J. Simsik (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Submitted: Tues, 21 September 1999


Michael J. Simsik
Ph.D. student
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Mail address:
Center for International Education
Hills South, Second Floor
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Massachusetts  01003  USA

phone:	 413-545-0465
fax:	 413-545-1263
e-mail:	 msimsik@educ.umass.edu


I have worked most recently as the technical advisor to the rural
development department of a World Wildlife Fund rainforest conservation
project in southeastern Madagascar.  Before that, I worked as a Peace
Corps trainer for nearly two years in Senegal, Mali, Lesotho and
Madagascar on programs in the environmental sector (including forestry,
agriculture, and water resources management).  I have been a teaching
assistant for two semesters in Natural Resource Sociology.  My master's
thesis focused on the perceptions of Beninese farmers about the potential
they saw for agroforestry to improve their agricultural production
systems.  I have also conducted research on ecotourism in a community
adjacent to a Biosphere Reserve in northwestern Benin.

My doctoral work intends to focus on the participation of local
communities in natural resource management in Madagascar.