Ranaivo Rasolofoson

Ranaivo A. Rasolofoson is an Assistant Professor at the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. He has led and conducted independent research that transcends disciplines and systems (e.g., terrestrial and marine). His research addresses global challenges related to human health, development, and environmental sustainability. Ranaivo has integrated approaches from social sciences (participatory methods), economics (causal inference), ecology, nutrition, public health, and public policy to investigate the health, social and environmental impacts of environmental change and programs. He has published in leading interdisciplinary and conservation journals, such as Science Advances, Nature Communications, the Lancet Planetary Health, Conservation Biology, and Conservation Letters. . His research has been undertaken in collaboration with academic and non-academic organizations (World Bank, WWF, USAID, Save the Children).

Ranaivo’s expertise ranges from processing global remote sensing and socio-economic datasets to working directly in the field with local communities. He has investigated community forest management impacts on deforestation, economic and subjective wellbeing in Madagascar, forest impacts on diarrheal incidence in Central America, and early childhood development and child nutritional outcomes within African inland fisheries. Ranaivo currently examines the roles of environmental resources in resilience to the health impacts of extreme weather events. He also explores how to integrate community conservation and nutrition programs to deliver benefits to nutritional health and the environment in low-income countries.

Publications

 Rasolofoson R.A. 2024. Access to human health benefits of forests in rural low and middle-income countries: a literature review and conceptual framework. Challenges 15:12.

Neugarten, R.A., R.A. Rasolofoson, C.B. Barrett, G. Vieilledent and A.D. Rodewald 2024. The effect of a political crisis on performance of community forests and protected areas in Madagascar. Nature Communications 15: 2963. 

Rasolofoson, R.A., H.O. Onyango, F.J. Awuor, C.M. Aura and K.J. Fiorella 2024. Climate change: a pointer to increased small-scale fisher drowning deaths. PLOS ONE 19: e0302397.  

Rasolofoson, R.A. 2022. Statistical matching for conservation science revisited:  response to Schleicher et al. 2020. Conservation Biology 36: e14006. 

Rasolofoson, R.A., T. Ricketts, K. Johnson, A. Jacob and B. Fisher 2021. Forests moderate the effectiveness of water treatment at reducing childhood diarrhea. Environmental Research Letters 16: 064035.

Rakotonarivo, O.S., A. Bell, B. Dillon, A.B. Duthie, A. Kipchumba, R.A. Rasolofoson, J. Razafimanahaka, N. Bunnefeld 2021. Experimental evidence on the impact of payments and property rights on forest user decisions. Frontiers in Conservation Science 2: 661987.

Rasolofoson, R.A., T. Ricketts, A. Jacob, K. Johnson, A. Pappinen and B. Fisher 2020. Forest conservation: a potential nutrition-sensitive intervention in low- and middle-income countries. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 4: 20. 

Fiorella, K., J. Coffin-Schmitt, K. Gaynor, G. Gregory, R.A. Rasolofoson, K. Seto 2020. Feedbacks from human health to household reliance on natural resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet Planetary Health 4: e441 – e442.

Travers, H., M. Selinske, A. Nuno, A. Serban, F. Mancini, T. Barychka, E. Bush, R.A. Rasolofoson, J.E.M. Watson, E.J. Milner-Gulland 2019. A manifesto for predictive conservation. Biological Conservation 237: 12 – 18. 

Fisher, B, D. Herrera, H.E. Fox, D. Gerkey, D. Gill, C. Golden, D. Hole, L. Gallagher, K. Johnson, M. Mulligan, S.S. Myers, R. Naidoo, A. Pfaff, R.A. Rasolofoson, E. Selig, D. Tickner, T. Treuer and T. Ricketts 2019. Nature can deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals. Lancet Planetary Health 3: e112 – e113. 

Rasolofoson, R.A, M. Hanauer, A. Pappinen, B. Fisher and T. Ricketts 2018. Impacts of forests on children’s diet in rural areas across 27 developing countries. Science Advances 4: eaat2853.

Rasolofoson, R.A., M. Nielsen and J.P.G. Jones 2018. The potential of the Global Person Generated Index for evaluating the perceived impacts of conservation interventions on subjective well-being. World Development 105: 107 – 118.

Rasolofoson, R.A., P. Ferraro, G. Ruta, M. Rasamoelina, P. Randriankolona, H. Larsen and J.P.G. Jones 2017. Impacts of Community Forest Management on human economic well-being across Madagascar. Conservation Letters 10: 346 – 353.  
 
Rasolofoson, R.A, P. Ferraro, C. Jenkins and J.P.G Jones 2015. Effectiveness of Community Forest Management at reducing deforestation in Madagascar. Biological Conservation 184: 271 – 277.