Principal Investigator

Research interests: Environmental Governance; Social-ecological systems; Science-Policy; Climate Change Adaptation and Transformation; Society and Natural Resources

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Forest Resources Management and the Principal Investigator of the Social-Ecological Systems Research Group. My research examines the diverse ways that individuals know, value and interact with the non-human environment, the social and political processes by which these perspectives and experiences are (or aren’t) incorporated into policy, and the impacts of policy as it shapes management and practice in particular locales.

As an interdisciplinary social scientist (and one committed to empiricism in its diverse forms), my work is grounded in analytical perspectives ranging from socio-cultural risk perception; environmental governance; discourse and the environment; politics of knowledge; and judgement and decision making. In addition to advancing knowledge about society and natural resources in these domains, my work seeks to provide insights for meaningfully and ethically addressing societal challenges including climate change and biodiversity loss.

I teach human dimensions of conservation and qualitative research inquiry. I’m incredibly proud to have been awarded the Killam Teaching Prize in 2018.