Susanna Hecht, professor of urban planning in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, was awarded the David Livingstone Centenary Medal by the American Geographical Society.
The society is dedicated to advancing and promoting geography in business, government, science and education. The medal is awarded for scientific achievement in the field of geography of the Southern hemisphere. Hecht was recognized for her work on the political and agricultural ecologies of the Amazon, which has displaced earlier environmental determinist models of Amazonian settlement. .
Hecht’s research focuses on the intersections of economies, cultures and land use and the socio-environmental effects of these processes. She is a member of Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study and received the American Historical Association’s best book in environmental history award in 2015.