Gästprofessor – Carole Crumley

Since 2012 Carole Crumley is a guest professor at the Swedish Centre for biodiversity. Carole Crumley is a founding scientist in the area of historical ecology and has written the first text book in this subject (Crumley, C L, (ed)(1994) Historical Ecology: Cultural Knowledge and Changing Landscapes. Santa Fe: School of American Research.)

Carole Crumley’s special areas of interest are epistemology of complex adaptive systems, especially as regards human societies; "Two Cultures" (science/humanities) problems in inter- and transdisciplinary research; integrated global- to local-scale historical ecology; historical climate change; evolution of landscapes; social inequality; social memory; geomatics (e.g., GIS, RS) applications in anthropology, ecology, and planning.

Her research interests focus on Western Europe, where she directs a long-running research project (1975-present), and pursued with her students, in Burgundy, France.  The research traces the history of agriculture and industry in a key European region over a three thousand year period, using archaeology, historical documents and maps, ethnography, and environmental data in a GIS database.  The project’s ethnographic component is large, and is focused on the practice of contemporary agro-pastoralism in the contexts of a rapidly changing global market and a complex regulatory environment (e.g., the EU Common Agricultural Policy, French regulations).

Carole is also Executive Director of the international project Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE), which uses a complex systems framework and the tools of historical ecology to integrate knowledge of past human societies with knowledge of past biophysical conditions.  This integrated analysis enables modeling old-and-new possibilities for a sustainable planetary and human future.  IHOPE is a global network of researchers and research projects; its International Program Office (IPO) is based at Uppsala University in Sweden.