Cynthia S. Simmons

Cynthia S. Simmons is a Professor of Geography at the University of Florida, affiliated with the Center for Latin American Studies and the Master of Sustainable Development Practice program. Her research focuses on political economy, examining interactions between social and environmental processes across multiple scales, particularly in Amazonia. She employs mixed-methods approaches combining field investigations, household surveys, and qualitative analysis.

Education: PhD in Geography (Florida State University, 1999), M.S. Urban & Regional Planning (1995), M.A. International Affairs (1993), B.A. Communications (1990).

Key research areas include land change dynamics, socio-environmental resilience, globalization impacts, and indigenous territorial rights. Recent projects include NSF-funded studies on indigenous territories' resilience (<$998k, 2021–2025) and Amazon land grabbing analysis. She has led/co-led over $4M in grants spanning 30 years, addressing deforestation, land reform, and policy interventions in Brazil and Mexico.

Her work frequently examines contentious land-use conflicts, telecoupling effects in global supply chains, and conservation strategies in contested regions. She advises multiple PhD/Master’s students and collaborates internationally with institutions like Brazil’s Federal Universities of Pará and Bahia. Notable platforms include policy briefs for the Amazon Science Panel and interdisciplinary publications in Land, Global Environmental Change, and Annals of the Association of American Geographers.

Labs/Teams: Core member of UF's Latin American Studies research cluster and collaborates with global networks studying Amazon socio-environmental systems. Current projects address deforestation governance, indigenous land rights, and sustainable development frameworks.