Degrees

B.A., Harvard University; M.A., Ph.D., Princeton University

About

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Professor Curran is interested in the mechanisms that underlie community structure and dynamics of tropical forests and how ecological interactions are altered by human activities. Her work aims to enhance equitable and responsible management of tropical forests by integrating knowledge of ecological processes in natural systems with the socio-political and economic realities as viewed by a diversity of users. Field research primarily in Indonesia has focused on long-term studies of the reproductive ecology, demography, and harvest of mast-fruiting Dipterocarpaceae, the most economically important family of tropical timber. Current research interests include: spatio-temporal scale of natural and anthropogenic processes and disturbance; plant-animal interactions, especially seed predation, herbivory, and seed dispersal; canopy tree demography, phenology, and regeneration; ecological role of ectomycorrhizae in ecosystems; and effects of government policies and logging practices on ecosystem management and biodiversity in Asia.