Jim Penn
Professor and Department Chair

Ph.D. Geography, University of Florida
M.A. Latin American Studies, Tropical Conservation and Development Program, University of Florida
Office: B-4-205 Mackinac Hall
Phone: (616) 331-8522
Email: pennji@gvsu.edu
Areas of interest: Amazonia, Latin America, non-timber forest products, ethnobotany, natural resource use and indigenous communities, agriculture and farmers, rural-to-urban migration, globalization and development, railroads and freight transportation.
Representative Publications:
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Penn, J. (In press). Community-based Field Research and Intercultural Student Experiences: Tropical
Rainforest Experiential Learning in the Peruvian Amazon. In: Wessell, J.E. (ed.) Experiential
learning in geography: Experience, evaluation and encounters. Switzerland: Springer Nature. -
Penn, J. Rural-to-urban Migration. (Submitted) In: C. Pope (ed.) Modern Global Migration: An
Encyclopedia of People on the Move. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO Publishers. -
Lane, P.M., and J. Penn. 2018. Explorando la cultura Mayangna de Nicaragua através del FODA.
Raíces: Revista Nicaragüense de Antropología 2 (4) 47 – 54. -
Lane, P, Gómez, E., & Penn, J. 2018. Exploring a Culture with UNESCO 2030 Objectives and SWOT:
The Mayangna of Nicaragua. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal 5 (11), 589-602 -
Penn, J. W., Jr. 2017. Piassaba broom production and fiber harvest amid challenging conditions in the
lower Andes: A case from Peru. Pp. 177 – 205 In: C. Allen (ed.) The Andes: Geography, diversity
and sociocultural impacts. New York: Nova Science Publishers. -
Delgado, C., Penn, J., and Couturier, G. 2016 Status of cacao trees following seasonal floods in major
watersheds of the Peruvian Amazon. Agricultural Science 4 (2) 15-24. -
Penn, J. 2012. The unconquered: In search of the Amazon’s last uncontacted tribes. (Book review)
Journal of Latin American Geography 11(1): 188-90. -
Penn, J. 2010. Domestication centers. In B. Warf (Ed.), Sage encyclopedia of human geography (pp.
374-378). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. -
Penn, J. W., Jr. 2008. Non-timber forest products in Peruvian Amazonia: Changing patterns of economic
exploitation. Focus on Geography 51(2): 18-25. -
Pinedo-Panduro, M. and J. Penn. 2008. Camu-camu: A sustainable option for agroindustry in the
Peruvian Amazon. FAO Non-wood News 17: 52. -
Penn, J. W., Jr. 2006. The cultivation of camu camu (Myrciaria dubia): A tree planting programme in
the Peruvian Amazon. Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 16 (1): 85-101. -
Miller, R.P., Penn, J.W., Jr, and J. van Leeuwen. 2006. Amazonian Homegardens: Their ethnohistory
and potential contribution to agroforestry development. Pp. 43 -60 In: Kumar, B.K. and P.K. Nair
(eds.) Tropical Homegardens: A Time-Tested Example of Sustainable Agroforestry. Advances in
Agroforestry 3. Dordrecht: Springer Science. -
Penn, J. and G. Neise. 2004. Aguaje palm agroforestry in the Peruvian Amazon. The Palmateer Vol. 24,
No. 1, 15-18. -
Meyer, D., and J. Penn. 2003. An overview of the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Communal Reserve. Rapid
Biological Inventories 11: 176-177. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. -
Bodmer, R.E., C.M. Allen, J.W. Penn, R. Aquino, and C. Reyes. 1999. Evaluating sustainable use of
wildlife in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru. America Verdi No. 4a. 36 pp. -
Bodmer, R. E., J. W. Penn, P. E. Puertas, L. I. Moya and T. G. Fang. 1997. Linking Conservation and
Local People through Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: Community-Based Management in the Peruvian Amazon. Pp. 315-358 In: Curtis H. Freese (ed.), Harvesting Wild Species: -
Implications for Biodiversity Conservation. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.
Bodmer, R. E. and J. W. Penn, Jr. 1997. Manejo de Vida Silvestre em Comunidades na Amazonia. Pp.
52-69 In: Claudio Valladares-Padua and Richard E. Bodmer (eds.), Manejo e Conservacão de
Vida Silvestre no Brasil. Belém, Brasil, Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas. -
Bodmer, R. E., J. W. Penn and Eduardo Durand. 1995. Costos y Beneficios del Establecimiento de una
Extracción de Recursos más Sostenible en la Amazonia Occidental. Pp. 215-222 In: G. A. B. da
Fonseca, M. Schmink, L. P. de S. Pinto and F. Brito (eds.), Abordages Interdisciplinares para a
Conservacão do Uso de Terra no Novo Mundo. Belo Horizonte, Brasil: Conservation International
do Brasil. -
Penn, J. W., Jr. 1994. Agroforestería orientada a la fauna sivestre y necesidades humanas: Desafíos y
realidades de la Reserva Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo. Kanatari 490: 6-7 and 493: 5, 11. -
Penn, J. W., Jr. and Jose A. Alvarez. 1990. Comunidad Campesina Protege sus Cochas.
Kanatari 258: 3, 10. -
Bodmer, R. E., T. G. Fang, L. I. Moya, and J. W. Penn, Jr. 1990. Management Programmes and
Protected Areas: The Case of the Reserva Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo. Parks 1(1): 21-25.