Nicolas Kosoy, Phd.
PhD Ecological Economics, MSc Environmental Management and Economics, MSc Conservation Biology
Bio and research interests

I am an ecological economist interested in the interface between environmental policy and human development. I completed my PhD in Ecological Economics in 2008 at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) (Spain), where I also coursed an MSc in Economics and Natural Resource Management (2005). I also have a postgraduate degree in Conservation Biology from the Durrell Institute for conservation and Ecology at Kent University (2002) and an undergraduate degree in Biology from the Universidad Simon Bolivar (Venezuela) (2001). Currently, I hold an assistant professorship tenure track at McGill University and I am a professor at McGill School of Environment and at the Department of Natural Resource Sciences. Previously, I was a Senior Programme Officer for the United Nations Environment Programme where I coordinated the implementation of the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment between 2008-2010.
I am interested in the interface of climate, energy and land-use governance, including the analysis of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). I am also interested in alternative economic models and plural values as it characterizes degrowth research. I have undertaken fieldwork in Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, Kenya, Uganda, Lao PDR, and Thailand and I am starting new research projects in other Latin American, Asian and African countries. My courses address a wide range of topics and debates in the area of ecological economics, political ecology and global environmental policy at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in McGill since 2010.
I am a member of the International Society for Ecological Economics and the European Society for Ecological Economics. I am fluent in Spanish, English, German, and less so in French.
I am interested in the interface of climate, energy and land-use governance, including the analysis of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). I am also interested in alternative economic models and plural values as it characterizes degrowth research. I have undertaken fieldwork in Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Venezuela, Kenya, Uganda, Lao PDR, and Thailand and I am starting new research projects in other Latin American, Asian and African countries. My courses address a wide range of topics and debates in the area of ecological economics, political ecology and global environmental policy at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in McGill since 2010.
I am a member of the International Society for Ecological Economics and the European Society for Ecological Economics. I am fluent in Spanish, English, German, and less so in French.
Publications (*supervised student)
Yashiro, M.; Duraiappah, A. and Kosoy, N. 2012. A nested institutional approach for managing bundle ecosystem services: Experience from managing Satoyama landscapes in Japan. In: Muradian, R and Rival, L. Eds. Governing the provision of environmental services. Springer.
Kosoy, N.; Brown, P.G.; Duraiappah, A.K.; Mackey, B.; Thomson, R.; Rogers, D.; Martinez-Alier, J. 2012. Instrumental Pillars on a Flourishing Earth: Planetary Boundaries, Economic growth delusion and Green Economy. COSUST. 4 : 1-6.
Durigon*, D.; Hickey, G. and Kosoy, N. 2012. Assessing national wetland policies’ portrayal of wetlands: Public resources or private goods? Ocean & Coastal Management 58: 36-46.
Dominguez, P.; Bourbouze, A.; Demay, S.; Genin, D. and Kosoy, N. 2012. Diverse ecological, economic and socio-cultural values of a traditional common natural resource management system in the Moroccan High Atlas: the Aït Ikiss tagdalts. Environmental Values (21): 277-296.
Kosoy, N. and Corbera, E. 2010. Payments for ecosystem services as commodity fetishism. Ecological Economics 69, 1228-1236.
Muradian, R.; Corbera, E.; Pascual, U.; Kosoy, N. and May, P.H. 2010. Reconciling theory and practice: An alternative conceptual framework for understanding payments for environmental services. Ecological Economics 69, 1202-1208.
Kosoy, N.; E. Corbera and K. Brown. 2008. Participation in Payments for Ecosystem Services: Case Studies from the Lacandon Forest, Mexico. Geoforum. Vol 39 (6): 2073-2083.
Corbera E.; Kosoy N. and Martinez-Tuna M. 2007. Equity implications of marketing ecosystem services in protected areas and rural communities: Case studies from Meso-America. Global Environmental Change 17: 365-380.
Kosoy, N.; Martinez-Tuna, M.; Muradian, R. and Martinez-Alier, J. 2007. Payments for Environmental Services in Watersheds: Insights from a Comparative Study of three Cases in Central America. Ecological Economics. Vol 63(2-3): 446-455
Martinez-Tuna, M. y N. Kosoy. 2007. Compensaciones monetarias y conservación de bosques. Pagos por servicios ambientales y pobreza en una comunidad rural en Honduras. Revista Iberoamericana de Economía Ecológica Vol 6: 17-28
Kosoy, N.; Martínez-Tuna, M.; Martínez-Alier, J.; Muradian, R. and Pérez, M. 2007. Payments for environmental services as an institutional tool for downstream-upstream cooperation in watersheds: lessons drawn from five case studies in Latin America. En:—Gestión Integrada de Recursos Hídricos: la propiedad del agua, estado en Iberoamérica.Universidad Externado de Colombia, Bogotá, D. C., Colombia.
Corbera E.; Kosoy, N.; Martinez Tuna M. 2006.Marketing ecosystem services through protected areas and rural communities in Meso-America: Implications for economic efficiency, equity and political legitimacy. Tyndall Centre Working Paper # 94
Corbera, E. and Kosoy, N. 2008. Equity implications of marketing ecosystem services. Basins and Coasts News 2(2): 16-23.
Kosoy, N.; Brown, P.G.; Duraiappah, A.K.; Mackey, B.; Thomson, R.; Rogers, D.; Martinez-Alier, J. 2012. Instrumental Pillars on a Flourishing Earth: Planetary Boundaries, Economic growth delusion and Green Economy. COSUST. 4 : 1-6.
Durigon*, D.; Hickey, G. and Kosoy, N. 2012. Assessing national wetland policies’ portrayal of wetlands: Public resources or private goods? Ocean & Coastal Management 58: 36-46.
Dominguez, P.; Bourbouze, A.; Demay, S.; Genin, D. and Kosoy, N. 2012. Diverse ecological, economic and socio-cultural values of a traditional common natural resource management system in the Moroccan High Atlas: the Aït Ikiss tagdalts. Environmental Values (21): 277-296.
Kosoy, N. and Corbera, E. 2010. Payments for ecosystem services as commodity fetishism. Ecological Economics 69, 1228-1236.
Muradian, R.; Corbera, E.; Pascual, U.; Kosoy, N. and May, P.H. 2010. Reconciling theory and practice: An alternative conceptual framework for understanding payments for environmental services. Ecological Economics 69, 1202-1208.
Kosoy, N.; E. Corbera and K. Brown. 2008. Participation in Payments for Ecosystem Services: Case Studies from the Lacandon Forest, Mexico. Geoforum. Vol 39 (6): 2073-2083.
Corbera E.; Kosoy N. and Martinez-Tuna M. 2007. Equity implications of marketing ecosystem services in protected areas and rural communities: Case studies from Meso-America. Global Environmental Change 17: 365-380.
Kosoy, N.; Martinez-Tuna, M.; Muradian, R. and Martinez-Alier, J. 2007. Payments for Environmental Services in Watersheds: Insights from a Comparative Study of three Cases in Central America. Ecological Economics. Vol 63(2-3): 446-455
Martinez-Tuna, M. y N. Kosoy. 2007. Compensaciones monetarias y conservación de bosques. Pagos por servicios ambientales y pobreza en una comunidad rural en Honduras. Revista Iberoamericana de Economía Ecológica Vol 6: 17-28
Kosoy, N.; Martínez-Tuna, M.; Martínez-Alier, J.; Muradian, R. and Pérez, M. 2007. Payments for environmental services as an institutional tool for downstream-upstream cooperation in watersheds: lessons drawn from five case studies in Latin America. En:—Gestión Integrada de Recursos Hídricos: la propiedad del agua, estado en Iberoamérica.Universidad Externado de Colombia, Bogotá, D. C., Colombia.
Corbera E.; Kosoy, N.; Martinez Tuna M. 2006.Marketing ecosystem services through protected areas and rural communities in Meso-America: Implications for economic efficiency, equity and political legitimacy. Tyndall Centre Working Paper # 94
Corbera, E. and Kosoy, N. 2008. Equity implications of marketing ecosystem services. Basins and Coasts News 2(2): 16-23.
Media and Outreach
Three (3) Interviews on Radio Canada International on the topic of Degrowth and on the International Conference on Degrowth in the Americas co-hosted by McGill, November 2011, February 2012, May 2012.
Goldberg, M.; P. Brown; G. Chmura; N. Kosoy, T. Naylor. Climate change is here: Action is needed before it is too late to stave off catastrophic climate change. Montreal Gazette, November 2010.
Kosoy, N. 2004. Dialectics of Consumerism. Reptilia 23.
Goldberg, M.; P. Brown; G. Chmura; N. Kosoy, T. Naylor. Climate change is here: Action is needed before it is too late to stave off catastrophic climate change. Montreal Gazette, November 2010.
Kosoy, N. 2004. Dialectics of Consumerism. Reptilia 23.
Contact
nicolas dot kosoy at mcgill dot ca