Rutgers professor Laura Schneider (second row, center) and doctoral student Leonard Calzada (back row, second from right) with students from Colegio de Bachilleres Técnico Forestal de Zoh Laguna 007, located in Zoh Laguna, Campeche, Mexico.
When people think of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, images of turquoise waters, white-sand beaches, pristine jungles and ancient Mayan cities often come to mind. Yet beyond these iconic landscapes lies a region where tropical forests, agricultural lands and local communities are navigating the complex realities of environmental change.
A Rutgers-led international research collaboration is helping to better understand those challenges while creating new opportunities for scientific discovery, education, and global engagement.
Supported by a Rutgers Global Seed Grant for International Collaborative Research, Laura Schneider, professor in the Department of Geography in the School of Arts and Sciences, and Ben Lintner, professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, together with Geography doctoral candidate Leonardo Calzada, recently traveled to the southern Yucatán to advance research on the interactions among tropical forests, agricultural land use, and climate variability.
Calzada, who will join New Mexico State University as a tenure-track faculty member in fall 2026, is advised in his doctoral studies by Schneider, who also serves as graduate program director in Geography.
The project brings together complementary expertise from across Rutgers. Schneider has spent more than two decades studying forest resilience and the ecological impacts of disturbance in the Yucatán, while Lintner’s research focuses on the atmospheric processes that drive tropical climate variability. Together, they are examining how diverse landscapes—where forests, farms, and managed vegetation coexist—interact with climate across space and time.
Understanding these relationships is increasingly important as communities around the world confront the effects of climate change, shifting land-use patterns, and growing demands on natural resources.
Rutgers professors Laura Schneider (center) and Ben Lintner (right) with Rigoberto Mukul Díaz, forest technician and project coordinator for Proyectos Forestales Petcacab, at the site of the weather station installation in Petcacab, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
“The Yucatán provides a unique living laboratory for studying how climate and land-use change influence one another,” said Lintner. “Understanding the interactions between the region’s diverse ecological and agricultural landscapes and climate can offer valuable insights that inform both basic scientific knowledge and sustainable land management practices.”
During their visit, the team installed two meteorological stations that will collect high-frequency measurements of environmental conditions, including air temperature and rainfall. The stations provide critical data that will complement ongoing field research measuring forest biomass, vegetation composition, and ecosystem health.
The new monitoring infrastructure strengthens Rutgers’ capacity to conduct long-term environmental research while deepening collaborations with local partners and communities.
Equally important was the team’s commitment to education and capacity building.
Working alongside students and teachers at the Colegio de Bachilleres Técnico Forestal de Zoh Laguna 007, a technical forestry high school in Campeche, Mexico, the Rutgers researchers spent two days training approximately 20 students in forest biomass inventories and climate data collection techniques. The hands-on experience introduced students to scientific field methods while demonstrating how environmental data can help address real-world challenges.
The exchange reflects the broader goals of Rutgers Global’s seed grant program, which supports international partnerships that advance research, education, and societal impact.
For Schneider, the collaboration represents an opportunity to connect research and education across borders while helping build the next generation of environmental scientists.
“Training students to collect and interpret environmental data not only supports our research but also strengthens local capacity for understanding and managing natural resources,” Schneider said.
The partnership is expected to continue through future collaborative activities, including a proposed workshop focused on tropical forests and climate science. Ongoing efforts also include preparing local field liaisons to operate and maintain the meteorological stations. These liaisons will, in turn, help build community capacity by teaching others how to access, manage, and apply the environmental data generated by the stations. Together, these activities will strengthen ties between Rutgers and institutions in the Yucatán while expanding opportunities for student engagement, community participation and international research.
By combining expertise in forest ecology, climate science and environmental monitoring, the Rutgers team is generating knowledge that can help communities better understand the connections between land, climate, and sustainability. The project also demonstrates the value of international collaboration in addressing environmental challenges that transcend geographic boundaries.
