Ivette Perfecto, a professor whose research focuses on broad but related topics of biodiversity and food sovereignty, has been named the George Willis Pack Professorship at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment, pending approval by the U-M Board of Regents.

The Pack professorship honor, nominated by her SNRE faculty colleagues, recognizes her scholarly and service contributions over a 20-year period.

"It is gratifying to receive the recognition from my peers that the work I do has meaning, both in its scientific content and political importance," she said. "I work on issues related to agriculture and food and to see my work recognized like this is useful not only to me personally, but to all those who seek an improved and sustainable food system in the world.

Rosina M. Bierbaum, dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment, said the nomination was well deserved.

"Professor Perfecto has created an extensive research record in the area of biodiversity, a record that strengthens the global reach and sustainability focus of the school," Dean Bierbaum said. "Her work as an adviser and mentor are equally world-class and deserving of recognition."

Since 2000, the Pack Chair - one of four named chairs, or professorships, at SNRE - has been held by Professor John Witter, a mentor of Professor Perfecto. The appointment is for a five-year, renewable term. Privileges include a $5,000 annual travel and research fund.

Her current research, which often involves SNRE master's and doctoral students, is focused on the complex ecological interactions that create the ecosystem service of pest control in coffee agroecosystems, primarily in the new-world tropics. "We use a combination of field observations, laboratory experiments and mathematical modeling to uncover the essential ecological connections among these diverse components of the system," she said. "Our research has uncovered a rather complex system of interconnections that, when taken together, appear to provide the essential ecosystem service of pest control in this all-important ecosystem."

"More generally, our research focuses on the environmental services provided by biodiversity within agricultural systems and the role that agricultural landscapes play in the conservation of biodiversity," she added. In this context, her ecological research feeds into a social and political analysis that links agriculture with biodiversity and food sovereignty. Much of that work is explored in a new book she co-authored being released this month - "Nature's Matrix: Linking Agriculture, Conservation and Food Sovereignty" (Earthscan Publications, 2009).

Her interest in sustainable food systems has led to her work with the U-M Sustainable Agriculture Work Group and the New World Agriculture and Ecology Group, which address issues of sustainable agriculture and the food system.

Professor Perfecto said she will use the professorship to further study the interactions of the insect networks that comprise part of the general ecological web of tropical coffee agroforestry systems. "These systems are important not only because coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world, but also because it is the livelihood for millions of small-scale farmers across the globe," she said. "I also will use the professorship to advance the role of women and underrepresented minorities in science not only by serving as best as I can a role model as a Latina woman scientist but also by actively promoting the participation of underrepresented groups in the sciences."

Professor Perfecto earned her doctoral degree in Natural Resources from SNRE in 1989. Since then, she has held several faculty ranks at the school, culminating in 2006 with her promotion to full professor. For the last six years, she also has taught in the Program in the Environment, the undergraduate major in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

She has held visiting and related scholarly positions at universities in Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and The Netherlands. She has received the Outstanding Faculty Award (chosen by SNRE Student Government), a U-M Faculty Career Development Award and SNRE's Samuel A. Graham Award. In addition, she has earned both Fulbright Scholar (2004-05) and Fulbright Fellow (1986-87) honors.

During her 20-year career at SNRE, she has chaired numerous doctoral committees and student master's project teams.

In 1930, the Regents of the University of Michigan established the George Willis Pack Chair, upon receipt of a $200,000 endowment gift.í‚   George Pack was one of the Michigan's earliest citizens, a conservationist and member of the U-M Board of Regents. The purpose of the chair is the "promotion of practical forest land management in the broadest sense of the term." The honor is open to all tenure-track faculty at SNRE. A nominating committee reviewed applicants and made recommendations to Dean Bierbaum, who makes the final selection.