Antonio J. Castro

Principal Investigator

Antonio holds a PhD in Ecology (University of Almeria 2009) and is a Catedrático de Universidas (Full Professor) of Ecology at the University of Almería. He is an ecologist by training and a sociologist by passion—ultimately, a social-ecological systems scientist. His research centers on understanding and addressing conservation conflicts, with a broader interest in the complex and evolving relationships between people and nature. He aims to explore the ecological, economic, and psychological dimensions that shape conservation efforts and sustainability outcomes. Since 2024, he leads the Sustainability, Resilience, and Governance of Socio-Ecological Systems Lab (SociECOS Lab). He also serves as an Affiliated Faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University, a role I have held since 2018.

His academic journey is international and interdisciplinary. As a Ph.D. student, he conducted research as a visiting scholar at the Laboratorio de Análisis Regional y Teledetección (LART) at the University of Buenos Aires under Dr. José Paruelo (2006–2007). He was later awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at Charles Sturt University in Australia, collaborating with Dr. Gary Luck (2010–2011), followed by a research appointment at VU Amsterdam in the Netherlands with Dr. Peter Verburg (2011–2012). In 2011, he moved to the United States, where he spent over six years. He first worked as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Oklahoma with Dr. Caryn C. Vaughn (2012–2015), before joining Idaho State University as an Assistant Professor (2015–2018), where he founded the SociECOS Lab. Currently, he serves as an Associate Editor for Ecology & Society, People & Nature, and the Journal of Arid Environments. From 2018 to 2022, he was a Lead Author of Chapter 3 of the IPBES Values Assessment, contributing to the development of diverse valuation approaches. He also an active member of the new Society for Social-Ecological Systems (SocSES).