Research
My research focuses on the junctures of conservation and development and contributes to theoretical advancement in political ecology, environmental governance, and natural resource management in geographical literatures. I concentrate on how governance mechanisms aimed at reducing localized environmental change generate new forms of value and are reworked through cross-scalar relationships. My research advances scholarship in human-environment geography and related disciplines by addressing questions about the production of value and social and environmental impacts within conservation arrangements.
Current ProjectS
Water Funds & Landscape Change
One of my sites of ongoing research is within the paramo of Ecuador. The paramo is a high-altitude, humid grassland ecosystem that regulates the flow of water sustaining both urban and rural communities in the northern Andes. My ongoing research in this region examines the relationship between urban and rural landscapes as the paramo is re-conceptualized as infrastructure for water provision in terms of ecosystem services.
(Left) Afternoon fog envelopes the paramo grasslands in Ecuador. (Right) A rural community gives a tour of their water catchment system in the paramo.
Wildfire & Incentive-Based Conservation
Kansas ranks among the top 5 states in the US for number of acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), one of the oldest programs that offers financial incentives to private landowners for conservation practices. The CRP pays landowners to keep land out of agricultural production and restore natural vegetation for reasons that include improving water quality, preventing soil erosion, and maintaining wildlife habitat. In the last five years, mega-fires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres of grassland in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in areas that have some of the highest CRP enrollment in the country. This project examines the conservation incentive program in the context of a volatile landscape.
More information on this project can be found at: Chapman Center for Rural Studies
