Felipe Murtinho

• Felipe Murtinho CV (PDF)

I’m the director of the International Studies Program at Seattle University. I have a joint appointment with Public Affairs and Nonprofit Leadership and I’m an affiliated faculty for the Environmental Studies Program.

I currently teach Research Methods for students in International Studies, Environmental Studies and Public Affairs; and I also teach Applied Data Analysis for the Master of Public Administration. In all my courses, I draw on my scholarly and professional experiences to make research methods and data analysis come alive in the classroom and to stimulate discussion on socioeconomic inequalities and environmental challenges.

My research seeks to better understand how rural communities in the Global South impact their environment and how they respond to changes in the natural resource systems that they depend on for their livelihoods. Specifically, I examine how rural communities in Latin America adapt to environmental change, and work to mitigate environmental degradation, in the context of water, paramo (high-altitude grassland), and forest management. My work has been published in English and Spanish and can be accessed here.

Student interest areas: I particularly enjoy working with students inside or outside the classroom on their research projects, whether it be implementing questionnaires and interviews, working through statistical analyses, and/or using geographic information systems (GIS) to map out different social and environmental issues. In addition, I am always looking for ways to include students in my projects, whether it be conducting analyses here on campus or working as research assistants with me in Latin America.

Brief Bio: I am Ecuadorian, and I have been privileged to study and work in a few countries of Latin America including Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Prior to coming to Seattle University, I earned a Ph.D. in geography at University California Santa Barbara, where I specialized in Human-Environment relations. In addition, I have a Master’s in Environmental Economics, and a BA in Economics, both from Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia. I’ve been teaching at Seattle University since 2010, and I’m happy to spend my free time with my wife and son, hiking, biking, and travelling in the Pacific Northwest.