Peeling away the relationship between agribusiness and deforestation in the Amazon rainforest presents a kind of chicken-or-egg conundrum.

Finding out which factor preceded the other, or how soon agribusiness moved in after the first patch of Amazonian rainforest was cleared, could provide important insights. 

That’s the challenge that stands before UW-Madison’s Holly Gibbs, a professor of geography and environmental studies. She and her team in the Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment are working to understand when and why people clear land in the tropics for beef and soy production.