Mark Moritz
Assistant Professor
Contact Information
Dr. Mark Moritz
Department of Anthropology
The Ohio State University
4058 Smith Laboratory
174 W. 18th Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
614.247.7426 (tel)
614.292-4155 (fax)
moritz.42@osu.edu
Curriculum Vitae
(pdf)
In Depth Website
My research focuses on the transformation of
African pastoral systems. I have investigated how pastoralists in
have adapted to changing ecological, political and institutional
conditions that affect their lives and livelihoods. I have been
conducting research with pastoralists in the Far North Region of
Cameroon since 1993. The long-term research has resulted in strong
collaborations with local researchers, which has allowed me to
develop new interdisciplinary research projects with colleagues at
the Ohio State University. All my research projects examine pastoral
systems within the analytical framework of coupled human and natural
systems using a regional approach that situates the Far North Region
within the larger Chad Basin.
n 2008 I started an
interdisciplinary study of complex social-ecological systems that is
funded by the National Geographic Society and a Faculty Early Career
Development (CAREER) Award from the Cultural Anthropology and the
Geography and Regional Science Programs at the National Science
Foundation. Specifically, the study examines how mobile pastoralists
in the Logone floodplain in the Far North Region of Cameroon
coordinate their movements to avoid conflict and overgrazing in a
land tenure system that is commonly described as open access, a
situation generally regarded as leading to a tragedy of the commons.
The hypothesis is that this management system is best understood as
a case of emerging complexity, in which individual decision-making,
coordination of movements among pastoralists, and participation in
an information sharing network result in the emergence of a complex
adaptive system in which access to and use of grazing resources is
managed. The hypothesis is being tested in an interdisciplinary
study of pastoral mobility that integrates spatial and ethnographic
analyses as well as agent-based models Understanding how these
emergent systems work is critical for the management of rangelands
across West Africa, most of which have some form of open access.
I am a founding
co-organizer of the Disease Ecology and Computer Modeling Laboratory
(DECML) with Rebecca Garabed (Preventive Veterinary Medicine),
Ningchuan Xiao (Geography), and Song Liang (Environmental Health
Sciences). We have started a project that examines the epidemiology
of infectious diseases in the ecological context of networks of host
movements. Specifically, the goal is to understand the transmission
and maintenance of Foot and Mouth Disease Viruses (FMDV) in networks
of livestock movements in the Far North Region of Cameroon. Because
FMD is endemic and vaccinations are not used, the region provides an
unprecedented opportunity to examine how different networks of
livestock movements affect disease epidemiology. Data on disease
incidence and prevalence will be collected for four years in
overlapping networks of livestock movement including daily foraging,
annual transhumance, regional markets, and transboundary trade. The
data will be used to develop coupled models including a
Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model of infections within
herds, an agent-based model of movement and connectivity between
herds within and across networks, and molecular modeling to provide
additional data and to validate the other models. We received
funding from the Ecology of Infectious Diseases (EID) program at the
National Science Foundation for this project and are developing
projects that examine the ecology of other infectious diseases,
including cholera.
Together with
colleagues at OSU I resubmitted a proposal to the Dynamics of
Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) program at NSF that aims to
understand regime shifts in African floodplains. African floodplains
are excellent examples of coupled human-natural systems (CHANS), but
they have not been modeled as coupled systems. Instead studies have
focused either on the hydrological, ecological, or social system and
have taken the couplings as a constant rather than as a dynamic
system. Our project will examine the dynamic couplings that are
endogenous to social, ecological and hydrological systems in the
Logone Floodplain in an integrated model. In particular, we will
focus on the impact of human activities and climate change on the
hydrology of the floodplain to understand the nature of regime
shifts in African floodplains. The project brings together a team of
researchers from a broad range of disciplines and will use a
transdisciplinary approach to investigate coupled human and natural
systems using a combination of field research, remote sensing
analysis, and modeling.
Teaching Schedule
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Autumn 2011 |
not teaching |
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Winter 2012 |
421.05 -
Regional Survey Course
in Cultural Anthropology
202 -
Intro to Cultural Anthropology |
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Spring 2012 |
810.21 - Study Design and Data Analysis
828 - Writing Research Proposals in Anthropology |
Current Grad Students
Christopher Brown
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