Recordings of Past Talks

Recordings from past presentations from the People and Nature seminar series, when available, are provided below. This playlist will be updated once new recordings are available. Below the video player are the titles, presenters, and descriptions of all past talks. Most of these also have a video available.
Spring 2023
Apr. 25
Equity in Resilience: Wildfire in the Rogue River Basin
Emma Sloan | Forest Ecosystems and Society
Description
This research takes a qualitative look at how equity and community resilience to wildfire interrelate in the Rogue River Basin. Relying on semi-structured interviews with individuals from diverse sectors involved in the wildfire problem, this research has important implications for policy-makers, community-based organizations, and land managers as they make intentional efforts to transform social and ecological systems in the face of intensifying wildfire regimes.
May 9
Community Perceptions and Response to Microgrid Proposals - Case Studies from the U.S.
Mahmood Muttaqee | Public Policy
May 23
The Hazards-Housing Nexus: Achieving Resilient Coastal Housing
Trisha Patterson | Public Policy
Fall 2022 Speakers
Oct 11
Offshore Wind and Floating Offshore Wind: Impacts on Military and Large Vessel Ocean Users
Hannah Brachfeld | Marine Resource Management
Description
This research proposal investigates the impact of offshore wind and floating offshore wind on military and large vessel ocean users by looking at how policy and technology is affecting its development.
Oct 18
Perceptions of wave energy on the North American West Coast
Greg Stelmach | Public Policy
Oct 25
Marine Renewable Energy in Oregon and the West Coast: Status and Perspectives
Hossain Taufiq | Public Policy
Nov 1
Title TBD
Ricardo de Ycaza | ​Public Policy
Nov 8
Weighing the Benefits of Returning Fire to Landscapes: Strategic Fire Management Workloads
Ian Goodwin | College of Forestry​
Nov 15
Cultural and Environmental Creencias (Beliefs) and How They Influence Latin@ Outdoor Recreation in the Williamette Valley of Oregon
Isabel Justiniano | Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Sciences
Nov 22
Queering Science Writing: Exploring Alternative Perspectives in Science and Nature​
Olivia Goodfriend | Environmental Arts and Humanities
Spring 2022 Speakers
May 24
Species distribution model to ecosystem services: quantifying birds' functional traits
Betty Shen | Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Sciences
Format: Workshop
Description
My research focuses on predicting suitable habitats and abundances for birds, as well as the impact of habitat/climate change on birds. Ultimately, I plan to quantify ecosystem services from birds that are derived from functional traits. In the presentation, I will present my current work on species distribution modeling by using citizen science data (i.e., eBird). I will also share my future research direction that connects to ecosystem services, and how to quantify them. This is a form of a workshop that invites folks to give feedback on my proposed research plan.
May 17
Climate Change, Disasters & Energy Consumption: A Panel Data Analysis using Pakistan Rural Household Panel Survey
Shams ul Deen | Public Policy
Format: Presentation
May 10
Social Identity and Agricultural Decision-Making: Barriers to Adaptation in a Changing Climate
Olivia Cameron | Geography
Description
I am currently developing my Masters thesis proposal and will be presenting on my preliminary literature review and my plan for the project. My research is involving power systems within agricultural decision-making; I am specifically interested in examining how masculinity and whiteness may serve as limits to climate adaptation within the agricultural sphere. I will be working with Willamette Valley farmers over the next six months performing interviews.
May 3
Institutional Adaptive Capacity and the California Abalone
Emily Griffith | Public Policy
Format: Defense Prep
Description
My research looks at the agencies in California that manage abalone fisheries. Specifically, I am looking at 2 perspectives: How the institutions initially responded to the rapid declines in population numbers in the context of the recreational fishery and its subsequent closure, and a current perspective of the adaptive capacity of the same institutions in the context of aquaculture restoration. Commercial and recreational abalone fisheries have been closed in California. Aquaculture restoration is one strategy that is being implemented to recover the species. I am looking at the arc of this story and how the agencies involved have adapted to the near extinction of many abalone species.
Apr. 26
Barriers and Pathways to Habitat Restoration on Private Lands
Laura Duffy | Water Resources
Description
My research is looking at barriers and pathways to habitat restoration on private lands. More specifically, I am looking at the human dimensions of river restoration in the Upper Klamath Basin, focusing in on landowner attitudes and interest re: habitat restoration. Phase 1 will include interviews with subject matter experts, or those familiar with restoration/working with landowners, and Phase 2 will include interviews with landowners in the Upper Klamath Basin, who are primarily ranchers.
Apr. 19
A legal pathway and research agenda for co-location of offshore wind and aquaculture in U.S. federal waters
Megan Davis | Integrative Biology
Format: Workshop
Description
The U.S. maritime zone is becoming increasingly cramped. Co-location – the siting of compatible ocean uses in the same space – is a proposed strategy to mitigate spatial conflicts and minimize adverse impacts of offshore development on the marine environment. My research identifies an existing statutory framework for the co-location of offshore wind and aquaculture through a review of the regulatory literature. This existing legal pathway for co-location puts the U.S. in a unique position to test the viability of such operations on the water. However, this pathway is impermanent, and a more lasting legal framework needs to be developed. Using the methods of Wright et al. 2016, I develop a legal research agenda for the co-location of offshore wind and aquaculture in U.S. federal waters across four major themes of marine governance: (1) environmental impacts and liability; (2) rights and ownership; (3) consenting processes; and (4) managing ocean space and resources.
Apr. 12
The Ag in the Basin Photovoice Project: Participatory Research with Farmers & Ranchers During Contentious Times
Hannah Whitley | Public Policy (Visiting Scholar)
Format: Presentation
Description
An upcoming photovoice project I'm coordinating with farmers and ranchers in the Klamath Basin! (www.aginthebasin.org). I'll discuss the history of water management in the Klamath Project and the regional histories and social characteristics that have shaped its governance. I will use qualitative data collected from an analysis of social media content, 35+ observations of public meetings, and ten interviews with agricultural stakeholders in the Klamath Project to examine how water users have prepared for impending management decisions made by the Bureau of Reclamation and will share how I've been preparing for an upcoming photovoice project that will involve farming and ranching families in the Klamath Basin.
FaLL 2021 Speakers
Oct. 12
The role of actor prominence and brokers in information-sharing networks in Jamaican small-scale fisheries
Eric Wade | Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Sciences
Nov. 2
Children’s outdoor play and emotional wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic
Lydia Gorrell | Forest Ecosystems & Society
Nov. 9
Secession Fever in the State of Jefferson: How Regional Separatism Influences Collaborative Water Governance Processes and Outcomes (a Dissertation in Progress)
Hannah Whitley | Public Policy
Nov. 16
Exploring inequities in the impact of shellfish harvest closures and biotoxins on shellfish harvesting in the Salish Sea
Brian Katz | Geography
Nov. 23
What makes the ultimate mountain bike experience? Tourists perceptions of Whiskey Run mountain bike trails
Javier Parada Torres | Forest Ecosystems and Society
Nov. 30
Topic modeling issue frames in liquefied natural gas facility siting in Oregon
Greg Stelmach | Public Policy
Dec. 7
How do informal institutions coexist and interact with formal forest management systems in community forestry enterprises? A case study from the Loreto region in Perú
Paula Lopez | Forest Ecosystems & Society
Spring 2021 Speakers
April 13
Novel ocean futures: anticipating great change in the world’s marine protected areas
Steven Johnson | Geography
April 20
Marine conservation and indigenous resurgence
Risako Sakai | Anthropology
April 27
Trust and distrust in the management of Oregon marine reserves
Brian Erickson | Fisheries & Wildlife
Talk description
Trust and distrust are key variables for natural resource management. Typically, trust is considered beneficial while distrust is seen as a major obstacle. People recognize a practical difference between trust and distrust, but social scientific research is inconsistent in its conceptualization and measurement of distrust. This talk will focus on the relationship between trust and distrust in natural resource management and will present two proposed studies to better understand how trust and distrust influence marine protected area management in Oregon and beyond.
May 4
Ecological & social influences on salmon habitat restoration efforts in the Puget Sound
Brittany King | Fisheries & Wildlife
May 11
An evaluation of Oregon’s preferential forest property tax programs in relation to non-industrial private forestland owner enrollment decisions and management behavior
Ben Rushakoff | Forest Engineering, Resources and Management
May 18
Shell boring polychaetes in Pacific oysters: an emerging Pacific Northwest concern
Megan Considine | Marine Resource Management
Talk description
Shell boring polychaetes, also known as mud blister worms, bore into the shells of commercially important shellfish species, which can render shellfish products unmarketable due to a reduction in aesthetic quality and host fitness. This product devaluation is especially true for the lucrative half-shell market where shellfish are presented to consumers with the meat lying in the cupped valve. Recently there has been an uptick in mud blister worm infestations on commercial oyster farms in the Pacific Northwest, the leading bivalve producer in the United States. This talk will present the results of a recent initiative to quantify the current distribution of shell boring polychaetes on oyster farms in Oregon state, as well as discuss the implications of this research for various stakeholder groups including industry, consumers, managers, and policy makers.
May 25
Attitudes and behavior concerning wildfire management from the landowner's perspective
Kanchan Ojha | Public Policy
June 1
The importance of collaboration with wildlife rehabilitation centers for bat research and conservation
Rachel Handy | Fisheries, Wildlife, & Conservation Sciences
Fall 2020 Speakers
Dec. 1
Sentinel disease surveillance of the global wildlife trade
Anne Devan-Song
​Integrative Biology
Nov. 17
The Instagram Effect: Is social media changing our demand for public land?​
Ashley Lowe
Applied Economics
Nov. 10
Who Benefits from Development Aid? A Case Study in Rural Tanzania
Sonia Bruck
Forest, Ecosystems, and Society
Nov. 3
Fishing for Hypoxia
Linus Stoltz
Marine Resource Management
Oct. 27
Timber Harvest and Oregon Coast Coho Salmon: The Benefits of Expanding Riparian Buffers
Kelsey Johnson
Applied Economics
Oct. 20
Environmental effects of economic investment in Sub-Saharan Africa​
Jacqueline Izatt
Applied Economics
Oct. 13
Is there no “I” in team? How language reveals individual perspectives when measuring sense of place from the organizational perspective.
Whitney Fleming
Fisheries and Wildlife
Spring 2020 Speakers
Apr. 7
Ice to Waves: Adaptation Limits, Mobility, and Anomic Activity in Santa Marta, Colombia​
Kali Abel | Geography
Apr. 14
Using National Geographic as a case study for understanding narrative communication strategies
Kei Lin Chang | Environmental Arts and Humanities
Apr. 21
Forest Decentralization in Ghana: Examining Empowerment of Local Institutions​
Samuel Mawutor | Forest Ecosystems and Society
Talk description
My talk will focus on the extent and kinds of powers transferred to Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in Ghana to manage their lands and resources.
Apr. 28
Measuring the Adaptive Capacity of Small-Scale Fisheries Using Fisheries Connectivity Networks: A Case Study of Baja, Mexico
Keiko Nomura | Marine Resource Management
May 5
Community Adaptation in Response to Extreme Weather Events
 Leanne Giordono | College of Public Health and Human Sciences
May 12
Barriers to Community Participation in Decision-Making for Environmental Justice
Jasmine King | Public Policy
May 19
Human Emotions and Endangered Species Conservation​
Hailey Kehoe Thommen | Forest Ecosystems and Society
Talk description
The Southern Resident Killer Whales of Washington are an iconic species for the Pacific Northwest and are well known for their charismatic nature; however, throughout time their population has suffered decline and they've been listed as endangered since 2005. In early 2018 the state of Washington created a task force specifically to aid in orca recovery and released a draft of recommended actions for public comment, around this same time there was a sudden death of a newborn calf. We use this situation to provide a case study implementing sentiment analysis as a novel approach to analyze over 14,000 public comments. This method illuminates underlying emotions, based on Plutchik’s eight basic emotions, within text. From this we explore how such data could benefit conservation management, and other managers across disciplines, to inform further outreach with the public and gain a better understanding of human emotional responses to environmental events.
May 26
Meeting People Where They Are: Gender Roles, Food Security, and Fisheries​
Ashley Peiffer | Marine Resource Management
June 2
“I Don’t Want Designer Nature” – The Moral and Environmental Intuitions that Influence How People Think About Genetically Modifying Trees
Betsy Emery | Forest Ecosystems and Society
Talk description
Climate change is increasing the severity of pest and pathogen infestations affecting forests. Resulting shifts in disturbance patterns can have substantial ecological, social, and economic impacts on forested ecosystems and their dependent communities. Researchers are actively investigating methods to improve tree resistance to specific pests and pathogens and enhance forest resilience. This includes genetic technologies to bioengineer tree species with particular resistance mechanisms or restore at-risk tree species, such as the American chestnut. Genetic engineering has been widely controversial in the agricultural industry due to concerns about potential human health and environmental impacts. However, less is known about how people perceive the use of biotechnologies in forested settings. Previous research shows that an individual’s conceptions of nature and naturalness affect opinions about forest management. This study addresses the question: how do conservation professionals invoke perceptions of naturalness and heuristics (cognitive shortcuts) when reasoning about forest biotechnology? To answer this question, we conducted 35 semi-structured interviews with conservation and land management professionals within the US Pacific Northwest during summer 2019. Results suggest that perceptions about the naturalness of biotechnology and the natural processes of ecosystems may influence attitudes toward using forest biotechnology. Additionally, people rely on their moral intuitions about whether humans should be involved in protecting or managing natural environments to justify their attitude about whether to pursue forest biotechnology. This research contributes to our understandings of the contexts and conditions that influence attitudes toward forest biotechnology – considerations that are critically important as the scientific community investigates ways to address the various ecosystem changes that affect our global community. 
June 9
Exploring the Social, Ecological, and Biophysical Drivers of Campsite Selection in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve Wilderness Through Application of a Step Selection Function
Susie Sidder | Forest Ecosystems and Society
Winter 2020 Speakers
Community adaptation in the PNW: 10 years of co-production of climate change knowledge​
Iva Sokolovska | Public Policy
Talk Description
With traditional science approaches continuously proving not suitable to address the problems associated with climate, in the past 30 years, we’ve seen shifts in science practice aimed at tackling super wicked problems like climate change. Co-produced climate change knowledge is considered to be more usable because it is designed to answer specific stakeholders’ needs and answer policy questions by incorporating local and traditional knowledges. In the PNW, the Climate Impacts Research Consortium works with stakeholders to create customized research aimed to contribute to greater local awareness, knowledge, and preparedness to respond to weather and climate. This talk will focus on the steps in the process of co-producing knowledge, its characteristics, and lessons learned from four co-production projects in the PNW
Collaboration Failure: Stakeholder Perspectives of Managing a National Forestry Program in Nepal
Stuty Maskey | Public Policy
Talk Description
Increasing calls from stakeholders for a greater role in public decision making has led to the rapid world-wide adoption of multi stakeholder collaboration for policymaking. In line with this emerging trend the Government of Nepal with support from its long-time development partners and bi-lateral donors initiated a policy level experiment in January 2012. A new forestry program, the Multi Stakeholder Forestry Program (MSFP) was designed to be steered by multiple stakeholders from planning to the implementation stage. This was by far the most ambitious forestry program in the country with a financial commitment of USD 150 million for ten years. The overarching aim of the program was donor-aid harmonization, institutionalization of multiple stakeholder collaboration in decision-making processes, and governance reform in the forest sector. In 2016, only four years after its launch, the MSFP terminated early.
Adaptive Self-Governance of Small-Scale Fisheries in Puerto Rico
Nicolas Gomez-Andujar | Marine Resource Management
Talk Description
Environmental conflicts are too often a result of ineffective governance, and even when regulations and civil sector initiatives exist, a lack of enforcement and participation in decision-making threatens both livelihoods and ecosystems. When given a chance to guide decision-making processes, fisher-led initiatives in Puerto Rico have navigated powerful interests, while creating effective marine reserves and advocating for marginalized communities. Historically in P.R., fisher-folk became community leaders and found therapy against unemployment, reducing financial and emotional stress during hard times.  Yet it is not clear how these fisher-folk can once again self-organize to achieve collective action in the face of non-linear consequences of ecological regime-shifts, climatic extremes and geo-political instabilities. As ecosystems change, fish stocks are depleted, markets shrink and regulations are not enforced, fisher-folk must rely on their adaptive skills and informal networks as intuitive survival strategies. This talk expands on this context and shares research questions under development about the emerging adaptive relationships between fisher-folks and the lessons we can learn from them about living in an uncertain world.  
Power Dynamics and Outcomes of Collaborative Forest Governance
Kailey Kornhauser | Forest Ecosystems and Society
Adaptive Capacity in Western States’ Water Plans
Leah Cogan | Water Resources Policy and Management
Talk description
Future climate scenarios for the western United States suggest higher temperatures and increased risk of prolonged drought which are likely to make water supplies more unpredictable and difficult to manage. Western states exhibit a diversity of water planning strategies from statewide comprehensive plans to localized aquifer management based on each state’s unique context. My thesis project seeks to understand how selected western states’ water plans and governance arrangements demonstrate or contribute to their adaptive capacity or ability to continue meeting multiple water needs (environmental, economic, social, etc.) under conditions of uncertainty. I am delighted to share my research and would appreciate any feedback on my indicator framework and state-by-state analysis.
Communicating Net Values: Using Communication Theory to Assess and Address the Social and Economic Impacts of Fishery Management.
Vaughn Robison | ​Environmental Arts and Humanities
Talk description
Oregon’s five marine reserves were established to conserve habitats and biodiversity by closing these stretches of nearshore waters to extractive activities.  As written in the legislation that created these protected areas, the success of their conservation objectives are to be considered alongside any adverse social and economic impacts on the ocean users who were displaced through the process. Despite this consideration, managers, researchers, and ocean users may have competing or incompatible understandings of these impacts. Further, each group may express them quite differently, leading to gaps in their acknowledgment. My work looks to use communication theory as a tool for better understanding how ocean users value and express the social and economic impacts of conservation. 
Conflict, Cooperation, and Comics in Puerto Rico​
Ciera Villegas | Environmental Sciences
Talk description
To date conflict over marine resources has received little regional attention as applied to Latin America. Other databases exist that have identified terrestrial-based conflicts in this region: social and political unrest (SCAD), state-based armed conflict, non-state conflict, and one-sided violence (UCDP), transboundary cooperation and conflict over freshwater resources (TFDD). My dissertation work addresses gaps within the literature by exploring the who, what, when, where, and why of conflictive and cooperative behavior over fisheries resources in Puerto Rico for the time frame of 2010-2019. Here, I present several results from the Puerto Rico Fisheries Conflict and Cooperation Database (PR_FCC_D). Additionally, for this talk, I highlight best practices from my previous work creating an illustrated booklet with Secure Fisheries and explain how this work is informing some of my future work to produce a graphic narrative. 
Anchor Forests: A Vision for Tribal Leadership in Cross-Boundary Forest Management
Meredith Jacobson | Forest Ecosystems and Society
Talk Description
In response to challenges of wildfire and declining forest health across the western US, the Intertribal Timber Council has proposed the creation of "Anchor Forests," large regions of forestland managed collaboratively across ownership boundaries, centered around a tribal land base. This concept suggests tribes are uniquely positioned to take the lead on cross-boundary land management due to their experience, knowledge, and political power. In my talk, I will present some of my findings from my Master's thesis on this topic, drawing from qualitative analysis of interviews, documents, and media to explore what this concept means, why it emerged, what it could be used for, and why its narratives matter.  
Reconciling Attitudinal and Normative Dimensions of Tolerance in Human-Wildlife Interaction
Jackie Delie | Fisheries and Wildlife
Talk Description
Tolerance is an important component of understanding reactions to human-wildlife interactions. Over the years, social psychologists have been interested in studying attitudes that define “tolerant” individuals or exploring attitude-behavior relationships that can explain when and why an individual does not tolerate. Scholars also highlight the social relevance of tolerance and how norms, like attitudes, have the ability to influence individual behavior. In this talk, I will share my findings on applying a multidimensional approach to measuring tolerance to better understand behavior intentions in the context of human-wildlife interactions, specifically with black bears as my case subject.