Research Interests:
My research interests include both ecological and social dimensions of wildland ecosystems, focusing primarily on rangelands. Current and past projects have addressed the following themes: community-based and collaborative natural resource management; traditional and local ecological knowledge; pastoralism and pastoral development; participatory research; effects of livestock grazing and other disturbances on the structure and function of rangeland ecosystems.

My overarching goal is to identify the practices and institutions needed to sustain ecological and livelihood systems in rangeland landscapes. I approach this problem by seeking to understand the ecological dynamics of these systems, particularly their responses to climatic variation and disturbance regimes; identifying management practices that help maintain and are compatible with the inherent variation of these ecosystems; and investigating institutional arrangements that facilitate or enforce sustainable management practices. I am especially interested in how different forms of knowledge and expertise can be integrated and applied to the stewardship of ecological systems.

Selected Current and Recent Projects:

Ecological Knowledge, Monitoring and Stewardship in Community-based Forestry in the USA (2004-2006)
This project, one component of a larger research effort, examined the roles of ecological knowledge, monitoring and stewardship in 7 community-based forestry groups (CBFs) that were part of the Ford Foundation’s Community Forestry Demonstration Project. We found that CBF management emphasizes landscape-scale planning and conservation, ecological restoration, and collective learning through ecological monitoring of forest ecosystems. The ecological monitoring conducted by CBFs is often done collaboratively, involving multiple stakeholders, and has social and economic as well as ecological benefits. Collaborative monitoring also facilitates the use and application of both local knowledge of forests and scientific knowledge.

Mongolian Rangelands and Resilience Program (MOR2) (2008-present)
Mongolia’s intact native grasslands and history of sustainable rangeland-based livelihoods suggest that if community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is to succeed anywhere, it should work here. Mongolia has a long history of sustainable pastoralism, yet recent political-economic changes and a dramatic rise in poverty, combined with accelerating degradation, climate and land-use change threaten the balance that has long existed on Mongolia’s rangelands. Because Mongolia’s temperate grasslands are a uniquely un-fragmented example of one of the world's most threatened terrestrial ecosystems, it is critical that we understand Mongolia’s socio-ecological systems, the institutions that govern resource use, and factors affecting system resilience and vulnerability. The MOR2 program has three main objectives: 1. Advance the theory and practice of CBNRM through interdisciplinary, applied research, 2. Build the capacity of young Mongolian and US scientists to conduct well-designed applied interdisciplinary research, and 3. Strengthen linkages between natural resource science and policy in Mongolia. In June 2008 we organized a week-long meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in which physical, ecological and social scientists worked together with herders, donors, NGOs and policy-makers to craft the outline of a long-term research and science capacity-building program. In 2009, researchers from 5 Mongolian research organizations and the Mongolian Society for Range Management conducted a pilot field test of our integrated social and ecological sampling approach. We also organized workshops to train participating researchers on data entry, management and introductory statistical analysis. We are currently seeking funding to implement our research design and educational activities on a broader scale.

Poverty, Vulnerability and Resilience in North Asian Rangelands: Case Studies of Community-based Rangeland Management in China and Mongolia (2009-2011)
Little is known about the current or potential future impacts of climate and global economic changes on pastoral populations of North Asia, including China and Mongolia, yet climate forecasts suggest the impacts on food security, water resources, and biodiversity in these regions will be significant. In Mongolia, poverty among pastoralists has risen dramatically over the past decade, and in China the wealth gap between the rural poor and urban residents has widened, suggesting that herders in North Asia may be especially vulnerable to the impacts of a warming and drying climate. The scientific literature on social-ecological resilience and adaptation to climate change theorizes that local institutions will play an important role in determining the success of rural communities in coping with climate and global change, yet empirical evidence to test these claims is lacking, particularly for pastoral systems in rangeland landscapes. The recent rise in community-based management institutions in Mongolia, and the persistence of such institutions in some Chinese rangelands, provides the opportunity and rationale for a series of case studies of community-based rangeland management in North Asia, and its relationship to poverty, vulnerability, and resilience in the face of climate and economic change. To address these needs and opportunities, Colorado State University’s Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship, with support from the Ford Foundation, is organizing a series of 2 workshops for Chinese and Mongolian researchers, practitioners, and herder community members, to develop the conceptual framework for and facilitate cross-case analysis and synthesis of 7 case studies of community-based rangeland management in North Asia. The objectives of these workshops are: 1) Build capacity of participating scientists for collaborative, interdisciplinary and applied research in natural resources; 2) Develop new knowledge about the impacts of climate change on North Asian pastoralists and the potential role of community-based institutions in responding to change; 3) Facilitate a dialogue with practitioners and policy-makers to ensure that the case studies address questions of management and policy relevance and result in policy implications that are delivered directly to decision-makers.

Understanding, Evaluating and Enhancing Community-based Collaboratives and Participatory Research Processes on Colorado Rangelands (2003-2008, continued under different name to present)
This project aims to increase understanding of the role of community-based collaboratives in managing Colorado’s rangelands, develop approaches to evaluating the social and environmental outcomes of collaboration, document local knowledge of rangeland users, and investigate the roles that science, local knowledge and other forms of expertise play in management decisions on rangelands. To date, our research has shown that collaboration can increase social capital among participants in community-based collaboratives, particularly stakeholder trust in natural resource agencies. However, it has also shown that social capital can be eroded by collaborative processes when they are unsuccessful in meeting their primary goals. As part of this project, we have also worked with community members to build their capacity for ecological monitoring and adaptive management, resulting in a 5-year (to date) community monitoring effort that aims to improve understanding of off-highway vehicle impacts on soils and vegetation in semiarid sagebrush grassland rangelands.

Linking Ecological and Economic State-and-Transition Models for Adaptive Management of Colorado Rangelands (2008-2012)
Stewards of western rangelands manage increasingly complex social-ecological systems with few decision-making tools to assist them. Sources of ecological complexity include non-native invasive species, altered fire regimes, and climate change. Social complexity is increasing due to land conversion and rising land values, the changing demographics and character of rural communities, and shrinking producer profit margins. These accelerating ecological and social changes threaten the viability of ranches, sustainability of working landscapes, and well-being of rural communities. At the same time, natural resource management policies have transitioned away from “command and control” management and equilibrium-based scientific paradigms, towards land stewardship that applies adaptive management and collaborative learning to build ecological and social resilience. This shift in management philosophy has increased awareness of the importance of multiple ecosystem services, and the need to quantify and value both market and non-market services. Practical tools to help land managers in the transition towards adaptive management for ecosystem resilience are sorely lacking. This integrated research and extension project will develop and promote one such tool, a linked ecological and economic state-and-transition model (STM), to help ranchers and land managers understand the effects of economic decisions on land health and ecosystem services, and the impacts of changing ecological conditions on ranch economic viability and profitability.