The purpose of the best dissertation prize is to provide recognition to an emerging scholar who has significantly advanced our understanding of Latin America or the Caribbean. The winner will be announced at the annual meeting of CALACS, at the University of Toronto hybrid (in person and online) conference, August 23-25, 2021.

Creation of an online platform for teaching urban gardening remotely and create the necessary conditions for teaching and researching at York community garden. The award is granted to course proposals that innovate old content or creates new opportunities for experiential learning. The grant will allow the renovation of the in-person course ENVS3800 Urban Gardening and Sustainability at York University and the renovation of the equipment and facilities of Maloca Community Garden at Keele Campus.

The grant recognized the important role of the community garden in providing food security. Maloca Community Garden plays that important role in the communities of Jane and Finch corridor, The Village and the Graduate and undergraduate Residence System at Keele campus, York University. The grant will equip the garden with up-to-date greenhouse technology to cut market dependence of seed and seedlings supplies.

To support research related to Neotropical Conservation in the vicinity of Las Nubes Biological Reserve in Costa Rica, and/or that contributes to meeting Las Nubes Project goals.

This award was granted to high-quality dissertations and thesis. My thesis research entitled "Social Actors and Forestry Legislation in Costa Rica, 1969-1996" examines the socio-political relationship between the state and its interlocutors in the civil society throughout three decades and four forestry laws. My thesis was approved with honours and was recommended for publication by the examination committee of the System of Postgraduate Studies of the University of Costa Rica.