Lecturer Clara Ines Nicholls

I am a Colombian agronomist with a PHD from UC Davis. I have taught “Perspectives on Sustainable Rural Development in Latin America” at UC Berkeley, Stanford University and Santa Clara University since 2002. I also teach at various universities in Colombia, Brazil, Nicaragua, Argentina, Spain and Italy.  I teach future professionals involved in rural development to understand that the challenges of agriculture go beyond technical problems and include socioeconomic, environmental, cultural and political dimensions. Solutions to challenges may involve activities at all levels from local to international. I am deeply committed to participatory research, where farmers not only help shape the research agenda but also conduct and evaluate the research and use the results. Currently I  serve as honorary  president of the Latin American Scientific Society of Agroecology (SOCLA) and as Co-Director of the Centro Latinoamericano de Investigaciones agroecologicas promoting educational and research projects on agroecology to enhance food sovereignty and  resiliency of farming systems to climate change. My  research has centered on enhancing plant biodiversity of farms to provide habitat and foster natural enemies of insect pests in a range of farming systems. I am also working on methodologies to evaluate the resilience of farms to climate change and based on such assessments in designing agroecological interventions to enhance the adaptability of farming systems to climatic extremes. I am  the author of 4 books (among them Biodiversity and Pest Management in Agrecosystems) and of more than 50 scientific journal papers.

Education

1998 Ph.D. Entomology-Biological Control, University of California, Davis

Research Areas

Effects of vegetational diversity on insect pest populations and associated natural enemies in agroecosystems,
Agroecological strategies for the conversion of conventional agricultural systems to low-input organic management,
Ecological and socioeconomic dimensions of small farm development.
Agroecology of traditional farming systems,
Sustainable rural development and food sovereignty in Latin America,
Climate Change, traditional farming systems and resiliency.

Contact Information

101 Stephens Hall

nicholls@berkeley.edu

Office Hours: Email me

Publications

Altieri , M.A and Nicholls, C.I. 2020. Agroecology and the reconstruction of a post-COVID-19 agriculture, The Journal of Peasant Studies, DOI: 10.1080/03066150.2020.1782891

Altieri, M.A. and C.I. Nicholls 2020. Agroecology and the emergence of a post COVID19 agriculture. Agriculture and Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10043-246.

Nicholls, C. I., Altieri, M. A., Kobayashi, M., Tamura, N., McGreevy, S. R., and Hitaka, K. 2020. Assessing the agroecological status of a farm: a principle-based assessment tool for farmers. Agroecol. Sur. 48, 29–41. doi: 10.4206/agrosur.2020.v48n2-04

Altieri, M.A. and Nicholls, C.I. 2020. Agroecology: Challenges and opportunities for farming in the Anthropocene. Int. j. agric. nat. resour. [online]. vol.47, n.3, pp.204-215.

McGreevy S.R, Tamura N, Kobayashi M, Zollet S, Hitaka K, Nicholls C.I and Altieri M.A. 2021. Amplifying Agroecological Farmer Lighthouses in Contested Territories: Navigating Historical Conditions and Forming New Clusters in Japan. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 5:699694. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2021.699694

Altieri, M.A., Nicholls, C.I., Astier, M., Vazquez, L, Henao, A and A Infante. 2021. Documentando la evidencia en agroecologia: una perspectiva LatinoAmericana , Boletin Cientifico 5, CELIA http://celia.agroeco.org/wp- content/uploads/2021/07/Evidencias-agroecologicas-CELIA-Boletin-5.pdf

Nicholls, C.I. and M. A. Altieri . 2022 . La agroecologia y su contribucion a los objetivos del desarrollo sostenible. En: Agroecologia: fundamentos, tecnicas de produccion y experiencia en la region de los Rios. Documento Nro 45, INIA, Chile

Altieri, M.A. and C.I. Nicholls. 2023. Elements for devising a methodology to assess the scaling up potential of agroecological initiatives. Journal of Agricultural Research 8 (3):000310

Altieri, M.A. and C.I. Nicholls. 2023. Unleashing biotic interactions through agroecological designs to stabilize crop production and enhance resilience. Journal of Agricultural Research 8 (4): 000337.

Altieri, M.A., Nicholls, C.I., Dinelli, G. et al. 2024. Towards an agroecological approach to crop health: reducing pest incidence through synergies between plant diversity and soil microbial ecology. npj Sustain. Agric. 2, 6 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-024-00016-2

Altieri, M.A.; Nicholls, C.I.; de Molina, M.G.; Rojas, A.S. Landscape Agroecology: Methodologies and Applications for the Design of Sustainable Agroecosystems. Land 2024, 13, 1746.https://doi.org/10.3390/land13111746

Altieri, M.A.; Salazar-Rojas, A.; Nicholls, C.I.; Giacomelli, A. Unleashing the Potential of Urban Agroecology to Reach Biodiversity Conservation, Food Security and Climate Resilience. Agriculture 2025, 15, 909. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15090909