Lívia Machado Costa

Lívia Machado Costa is a PhD student in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research explores how global markets and environmental policies reshape everyday life and landscapes in the Amazon. Using mixed methods that combine qualitative research, causal inference, and geospatial tools, she examines how cattle expansion and supply-chain regulations are transforming deforestation patterns, pasture landscapes, and the opportunities available to smallholder farmers. Alongside this work, she studies illegal gold mining across the Amazon Basin, with particular attention to cross-border governance and the consequences of mining for public health and biodiversity.

Before joining UCSB, she worked as a research assistant at the BRICS Policy Center, where she analyzed the socio-environmental impacts of Chinese investments in agrifood systems in Latin America. She holds a BA in International Relations from UFRGS (2016) and an LLM in China Studies from Peking University (2019).