Dr. Lacy is an ecologist passionate about science, management, culture, and their intersection. Much of his research integrates these areas, examining questions of ecology and ecosystems that connect with a variety of social contexts, from cultural identity of landscapes to management of fisheries. He also likes to revisit commonly held truths in science-based management to evaluate their applicability in new environmental contexts. Originally from the US insular territory of Guam, Dr. Lacy grew up internationally, and has 5+ years of experience working in the Southern Cone of South America on ecosystem ecology and management.
Prior to joining SFS, Dr. Lacy conducted postdoctoral research at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago, Chile, working on topics of fluvial ecosystem conservation related with sustainable hydropower development, in order to help evaluate the ecological implications of dam development on native fishes found in different Chilean rivers. Dr. Lacy was also a visiting professor at the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru, working with the Laboratorio de Ecosistemas y Utilización de Pastizales to the impacts of cattle grazing in the Peruvian Altiplano. Dr. Lacy received his PhD from the University of Michigan, where he studied the ecological, ecosystemic, policy, and legal implications of the Great Lakes Compact in Michigan. The themes connecting all his research is the integration of ecosystem function to evaluate ecological patterns in space and over time.
Dr. Lacy is excited to return to a post-glacial ecosystem and is eager to study the various ways in which Patagonian lands and waters function to drive local ecologies. The distinct evolutionary lineages found in this remote fragment of Gondwana also make urgent research questions about native species conservation and exotic species invasion, especially given the global economic forces that continue to shape the ecology and politics of the region.