Professor / Director of Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Program
laurence.becker@oregonstate.edu

Office: 541-737-9504

Wilkinson Hall

Wilkinson Hall 238

2601 SW Orchard Avenue

2601 SW Orchard Avenue
Corvallis, Oregon 97331

Profile Field Tabs

At OSU
Brief Research Interests: 

Rural livelihoods, food security, and agricultural policy in the global South, with a focus on Africa

Location: 
Building: 

Specialty

Agricultural and food systems, development, Africa (Mali and Côte d'Ivoire)

Research Interests

Agrarian change and natural resource management

Education

BA Geography, University of California at Berkeley, 1981
MA Education, Stanford University, 1982
PhD Geography, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, 1989

Experience

Post-doc, Rockefeller Foundation, West African Rice Development Association (WARDA), 1990-92, Cote d'Ivoire (now called the Africa Rice Center)

Courses

Geography of the Non-Western World (GEOG 105)
Geography of the Western World (GEOG 106)
Geography of Africa (GEOG 311)
Geography of International Development and Globalization (GEOG 330)
Global Resources and Development (GEOG 431/531)
Geography of Food and Agriculture (GEOG 432/532)
History and Philosophy of Geography (GEOG 511)

Graduate Students

Ndiomu, Oyinbarakemi. Master of Science, 2022.
Detecting Forest Changes in Nigerian Protected Areas Using Hansen Global Forest Change Data: Case Study of the Edumanom Forest Reserve

Treviño Peña, Melva. Doctor of Philosophy, 2018.
Disputed Spaces: Concheras, Shrimp Aquaculture, and Conservation in the Mangrove Forests of Southern Esmeraldas, Ecuador

Wood, Doug. Master of Science, 2014.
How Well Do American Viticultural Areas Correspond with the Soil Classes in Oregon's Northern Willamette Valley? A Question for the Wine Industry

Edstrom, Jill. Master of Science, 2013.
Comparative Analysis of Google Earth Versus Traditional Paper Maps in Middle School Science Education

Davis, Ellen. Master of Science, 2013.
Effects of Land Use policy on Urban Growth Rates in the Willamette Valley, Oregon

Latta, Brian. Master of Science, 2012.
The Effectiveness of the Spatial Assimilation Theory in Describing Current Settlement Patterns of Polish Immigrants in Portland, Oregon

Bucklin, David. Master of Science, 2010.
Protected-Area Effectiveness near Dynamic Colonization Zones: Forest Clearance in and around Amboro National Park, Bolivia

Loynes, Katy. Master of Science, 2008.
Land Trusts in the New West: Conserving and Responding to Local Geographies?

Ndzeidze, Stephen. Master of Science, 2008.
Detecting Changes in a Wetland: Using Multi-Spectral and Temporal Landsat in the Upper Noun Valley Drainage Basin, Cameroon

Bernard, Mark. Master of Science, 2007.
Determining Relative Benefits to Communities from Urban and Agricultural Land Use Change in Napa County, California

Wade, Michael. Master of Science, 2007.
Evaluation of Deforestation in the Rio Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras

Anderson, Carl. Master of Science, 2007.
Change Detection of Land Cover in a Meadow Landscape, the "Ranches" Meadow, Silver Falls State Park, Oregon

Feature Story

Learning environmental sciences…French style (February, 2018)

Publications

Becker, Laurence. 2013. Land sales and the transformation of social relations and landscape in peri-urban Mali. Geoforum 46: 113-123.

Moseley, William; Carney, Judith; and Becker, Laurence. 2010. Neoliberal policy, rural livelihoods and urban food security in West Africa: a comparative study of the Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire, and Mali. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 107 (13): 5774-5779.

Becker, Laurence and Yoboué, N'guessan. 2009. Rice Producer — Processor Networks in Côte d'Ivoire. Geographical Review 99 (2): 164-185.

Becker, Laurence and Yoboué, N'guessan. 2004. Le riz dans l'ancienne "Boucle du cacao" de Côte d'Ivoire. Autrepart 31:133-150.

Becker, Laurence. 2001. Seeing green in Mali's woods: Colonial legacy, forest use, and local control. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 91(3):504-526.

Becker, Laurence. 2000. Garden money buys grain: Food procurement patterns in a Malian village. Human Ecology 28(2):219-250.

Becker, Laurence and Roger Diallo. 1996.  Cultural Diffusion of Rice Cropping in Côte d'Ivoire. Geographical Review, 86(4): 505-528.

Becker, Laurence C. 1996.  Access to Labor in Rural Mali. Human Organization, 55(3): 279-288.

Becker, Laurence C. 1994. An Early Experiment in the Reorganization of Agricultural Production in the French Soudan (Mali), 1920-1940. Africa, 64(3): 137-176.

Becker, Laurence C. 1990. The Collapse of the Family Farm in West Africa? Evidence from Mali. The Geographical Journal, 156(3): 313-322.