We began this book with a simple goal to assemble a collection of readings for an undergraduate interdisciplinary course taught by one of us (AR) at Macalester College. This course explored environmental problems and solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean using both natural science and social science methods. After a literature search failed to produce an anthology of interdisciplinary readings appropriate for the course, we set out to compile one. We sought papers that dealt with the most salient environmental problems in the region, that were written by experts, and that were...