Carlos Andres Gallegos-Riofrío
Research Assistant Professor
Affiliate, Fund Institute for Environment
PRONUNCIATION CAR-los AHN-dress
PRONOUNS he/him
- PhD, Social Work, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis
- MS, Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development, Australian National University
- BA, Psychology, Universidad San Francisco de Quito
Areas of expertise
Agroecology, Planetary Health, Indigenous People, Psychology, Rural Studies, Nutrition, Intercultural Health, Social Marketing, Evaluation, Applied Research, and Participatory Action Research
BIO
Carlos Andres works in the agroecology–planetary health nexus through pluriversal lenses, collaborating closely with Indigenous and rural communities.
His interdisciplinary profile bridges behavioral, life, and social sciences, arts, and communications. Since beginning his research career in 2005, Carlos Andres has accumulated nearly two decades of applied and community-based research experience across Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Australia, and the U.S. He has published extensively in scientific journals and coauthored a book, three book chapters, and three social marketing manuals. He frequently contributes as a guest editor and member of scientific advisory boards and review panels, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Latin American Society for Nutrition (SLAN). Carlos Andres produced an award-winning documentary Caliata, with a second film in production.
At the University of Vermont’s Institute for Agroecology, Carlos Andres co-coordinates the Agroecology and Planetary Health Research Program, which bridges scientific and ancestral knowledge through participatory and justice-oriented research across the Americas. There he co-leads several interconnected projects, including “Expanding the Evidence Base of Nature and Health Research,” which exposes global biases in nature–health studies and calls for more inclusive, culturally grounded approaches (The Guardian; Inverse; Vice; Popular Science); the “SYMPHONY Project,” which explores Earth–human coherence through links between landscape and people’s health, including soil and plant microbiomes, gut bacteria, and emotional wellbeing; and “Ancient Wisdom for a Thriving Future,” which investigates Andean agroecological terraces and eco-systemic philosophies as models of environmental resilience and holistic health. He also studies how the Rights of Nature can reshape governance and bridge the Anthropocene gap, fostering more just and plural pathways to planetary health.
In addition, Carlos Andres serves as Research Coordinator of the Caliata Initiative, an international, community-based partnership in the Ecuadorian Andes that promotes biocultural revitalization and sustainability through participatory action research. Anchored in a highland community that thrives atop millennia-old agricultural terraces, the Initiative integrates local knowledge and interdisciplinary work to understand how biocultural territories sustain food security, biodiversity, and long-lived healthy people. Recently featured in the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) on Food Security and Nutrition report (Box 25, p. 78), Caliata stands as a living model of climate resilience and equitable, regenerative food systems worldwide.
Selected Publications
Gallegos-Riofrío, C. A., Moncayo-Altamirano, M. A., Terán-Valdez, A., Redin-Guerrero, G., Varela, C., Posner, S., & Carrasco-Torrontegui, A. (2025). Frogs, coalitions, and mining: Transformative insights for planetary health and earth system law from Ecuador's struggle to enforce Nature's rights. Earth System Governance, 24, 100253.
Gallegos-Riofrío, C. A., Waters, W. F., Carrasco-Torrontegui, A., & Iannotti, L. L. (2024). Encuentros impensados en la transición nutricional: agroecosistemas andinos en la Sierra central ecuatoriana. L’Ordinaire des Amériques, (232).
Gallegos-Riofrio, C. A., Carrasco-Torrontegui, A., Riofrio, L. A., Waters, W. F., Iannotti, L. L., Pintag, M., ... & Méndez, V. E. (2022). Terraces and ancestral knowledge in an Andean agroecosystem: a call for inclusiveness in planetary health action. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 1-35.
Gallegos-Riofrío, C. A., Arab, H., Carrasco-Torrontegui, A., & Gould, R. K. (2022). Chronic deficiency of diversity and pluralism in research on nature's mental health effects: A planetary health problem. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 100148.
Gallegos-Riofrio, C. A., Zent, E., & Gould, R. K. (2022). The importance of Latin American scholarship-and-practice for the relational turn in sustainability science: a reply to West et al.(2020). Ecosystems and People, 18(1), 478-483.
Gallegos-Riofrío, C.A., Waters, W.F., Carrasco-Torrontegui, A. M., Riofrio, L. A., Pintag, M., Caranqui, M., Caranqui, J., BlackDeer, A. A., Iannotti, L. L. (2021). Caliata: vital lessons from a small indigenous community in Ecuador on food sovereignty and sustainable diets. Current Developments in Nutrition, 5(4), 61–73,
Gallegos-Riofrío, C.A., Waters, W.F. Carrasco-Torrontegui, A., & Iannotti, L. L. (2021). Identity, social institutions and cosmovision in the agri-food system of an indigenous community in the Andes. Geoforum, 127, 1-11.
Publications
Bio
Carlos Andres works in the agroecology–planetary health nexus through pluriversal lenses, collaborating closely with Indigenous and rural communities.
His interdisciplinary profile bridges behavioral, life, and social sciences, arts, and communications. Since beginning his research career in 2005, Carlos Andres has accumulated nearly two decades of applied and community-based research experience across Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Australia, and the U.S. He has published extensively in scientific journals and coauthored a book, three book chapters, and three social marketing manuals. He frequently contributes as a guest editor and member of scientific advisory boards and review panels, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Latin American Society for Nutrition (SLAN). Carlos Andres produced an award-winning documentary Caliata, with a second film in production.
At the University of Vermont’s Institute for Agroecology, Carlos Andres co-coordinates the Agroecology and Planetary Health Research Program, which bridges scientific and ancestral knowledge through participatory and justice-oriented research across the Americas. There he co-leads several interconnected projects, including “Expanding the Evidence Base of Nature and Health Research,” which exposes global biases in nature–health studies and calls for more inclusive, culturally grounded approaches (The Guardian; Inverse; Vice; Popular Science); the “SYMPHONY Project,” which explores Earth–human coherence through links between landscape and people’s health, including soil and plant microbiomes, gut bacteria, and emotional wellbeing; and “Ancient Wisdom for a Thriving Future,” which investigates Andean agroecological terraces and eco-systemic philosophies as models of environmental resilience and holistic health. He also studies how the Rights of Nature can reshape governance and bridge the Anthropocene gap, fostering more just and plural pathways to planetary health.
In addition, Carlos Andres serves as Research Coordinator of the Caliata Initiative, an international, community-based partnership in the Ecuadorian Andes that promotes biocultural revitalization and sustainability through participatory action research. Anchored in a highland community that thrives atop millennia-old agricultural terraces, the Initiative integrates local knowledge and interdisciplinary work to understand how biocultural territories sustain food security, biodiversity, and long-lived healthy people. Recently featured in the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) on Food Security and Nutrition report (Box 25, p. 78), Caliata stands as a living model of climate resilience and equitable, regenerative food systems worldwide.
Selected Publications
Gallegos-Riofrío, C. A., Moncayo-Altamirano, M. A., Terán-Valdez, A., Redin-Guerrero, G., Varela, C., Posner, S., & Carrasco-Torrontegui, A. (2025). Frogs, coalitions, and mining: Transformative insights for planetary health and earth system law from Ecuador's struggle to enforce Nature's rights. Earth System Governance, 24, 100253.
Gallegos-Riofrío, C. A., Waters, W. F., Carrasco-Torrontegui, A., & Iannotti, L. L. (2024). Encuentros impensados en la transición nutricional: agroecosistemas andinos en la Sierra central ecuatoriana. L’Ordinaire des Amériques, (232).
Gallegos-Riofrio, C. A., Carrasco-Torrontegui, A., Riofrio, L. A., Waters, W. F., Iannotti, L. L., Pintag, M., ... & Méndez, V. E. (2022). Terraces and ancestral knowledge in an Andean agroecosystem: a call for inclusiveness in planetary health action. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 1-35.
Gallegos-Riofrío, C. A., Arab, H., Carrasco-Torrontegui, A., & Gould, R. K. (2022). Chronic deficiency of diversity and pluralism in research on nature's mental health effects: A planetary health problem. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 100148.
Gallegos-Riofrio, C. A., Zent, E., & Gould, R. K. (2022). The importance of Latin American scholarship-and-practice for the relational turn in sustainability science: a reply to West et al.(2020). Ecosystems and People, 18(1), 478-483.
Gallegos-Riofrío, C.A., Waters, W.F., Carrasco-Torrontegui, A. M., Riofrio, L. A., Pintag, M., Caranqui, M., Caranqui, J., BlackDeer, A. A., Iannotti, L. L. (2021). Caliata: vital lessons from a small indigenous community in Ecuador on food sovereignty and sustainable diets. Current Developments in Nutrition, 5(4), 61–73,
Gallegos-Riofrío, C.A., Waters, W.F. Carrasco-Torrontegui, A., & Iannotti, L. L. (2021). Identity, social institutions and cosmovision in the agri-food system of an indigenous community in the Andes. Geoforum, 127, 1-11.