Christian Abizaid

Christian Abizaid is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, affiliated with the Department of Geography & Planning and the School of the Environment. His research focuses on ecology, forest conservation, and social-environmental justice in Latin America, particularly Amazonia and Mexico. He holds a PhD (McGill University), MA (McGill), and Licenciatura (Universidad Iberoamericana).

Key research interests include Indigenous and peasant livelihoods, forest conservation strategies, vulnerability to environmental hazards, and rural poverty dynamics. His work integrates socioecological analysis with geospatial tools, examining topics like floodplain agriculture, pandemic responses in remote communities, and traditional ecological knowledge systems.

Recent publications analyze how tropical forests mitigate disease impacts, community resilience during pandemics, and sustainable agricultural practices that preserve Amazonian biodiversity. He has been recognized with the 2019 Best Paper Award from the American Geographical Society for contributions to environmental geography.

Abizaid's research extends to archaeological site preservation, labor-sharing networks in tropical agriculture, and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding Amazonian landscapes. His work bridges anthropological, ecological, and policy perspectives to address environmental challenges in marginalized communities.