People

Jen Schneider is Associate Dean of the College of Innovation and Design and Director of Human-Environment Systems. She has worked extensively in the areas of public communication of science and technology controversies, stakeholder engagement, and public engagement. Her primary research interest is in understanding how politics and environmental communication intersect: she has collaborated with teams to design and facilitate large public meetings on topics such as climate change, emerging technologies, nuclear power, and rapid urban growth. Jen has also worked in team science contexts, collaborating with scientists and engineers to design stakeholder engagement projects on topics ranging from decarbonization to water management to farmland preservation.

Jodi is the leader of LUL@BSU — the Land Use Lab at Boise State University. She is a land-use scientist who studies landscape change and its drivers, and the impacts of landscape change on biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Megan is interested in how interacting anthropogenic and biophysical factors alter disturbance regimes and subsequent recovery, and in evaluating the efficacy of intervention options in increasing social-ecological resilience.

Vicken studies human behavioral and institutional change in environmental contexts, using quantitative surveys, behavioral experiments, computational modeling, and social-ecological network analysis.

Kelly studies how environmental and social changes are affecting ecosystems and rural livelihoods, particularly in mountain and pastoral regions.

Matt is a conservation scientist interested in understanding how the interactions between people, their environment, and the institutions that govern them inspire (or inhibit) conservation action and how that impacts their effectiveness.

Gwénaëlle is joining the Farmland Preservation team in January 2023 and will be co-advised by Dr. Schneider and Dr. Som-Castellano.  d’Aumale is interested in bio-cultural conservation, food justice and farmland preservation policy.

Clara researches the conservation of desert ecosystems and rare and endemic plants. She uses remote sensing and GIS, fieldwork, and a social-ecological-systems framework to think about how climate adaptation can give ecosystems a resilient future with climate change.
Advised by Dr. Hopping.

Matt seeks to understand why protected areas succeed or fail long-term. Matt specifically examines how social dynamics affect conservation efficacy and resource equity for local populations. He is advised by Dr. Hillis.

Meg is interested in human-environment interactions. Her current research involves understanding the spatio-temporal dimensions of human development and wildfire in sagebrush ecosystems.

Sarah examines questions related to large-scale conservation of socioecological systems. She develops tools for local stakeholders and the public to make informed policy decisions regarding farmland preservation. She is advised by Dr. Brandt.

Lauren investigates how social systems shift in the context of climate change and how individuals and the environment intersect. Agriculture is the primary lens through which she views this intersection, but the current economic, political, and cultural climate also structures her work. Lauren is advised by Dr. Vicken Hillis.

Louis is interested in utilizing data from remotely sensed imagery, field observations, and human activity to predict the spread of invasive plant species throughout wetlands in the Great Lakes region. Ultimately, he hopes to incorporate this information into a decision support tool for land managers to better protect vulnerable wetlands. Louis is advised by Dr. Jodi Brandt.

Carolyn is broadly interested in land cover change and nature’s benefits to people. Her current research examines agricultural lands and farmland loss using an ecosystem services framework. Carolyn is advised by Dr. Jodi Brandt.

Nick’s focus is on using remote sensing techniques to evaluate human-environment interactions. Land systems often have measurable effects on the landscape key to issues surrounding resource use, human welfare, and conservation efforts. He aims to contribute to interdisciplinary research that helps guide decision-making at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Nick is advised by Dr. Brandt.

Molly is interested in the social dynamics that influence the management of socio-ecological systems over space and time. She is particularly interested in the processes of collaboration and conflict, and how these processes are impacted by ecological disturbance. Molly is advised by Dr. Vicken Hillis.

Haley focuses on the application of social science theory to natural resource issues. Specifically, she currently seeks to understand public perceptions of landscapes and wildlife, how and why they differ, and their role in natural resource management. Haley is advised by Dr. Kelly Hopping.

Maddi’s research interests include sustainable land management, managing for multiple objectives, and how changing environmental and social conditions affect the relationship between humans and the environment. She currently studies sheep grazing to target invasive vegetation in Idaho’s Sun Valley region. Maddi is advised by Dr. Kelly Hopping.

Kelsey is a natural resource and environmental economist working on research at the intersection of forest and land management, climate change adaptation, and ecosystem service provision.

My background is in environmental and geoinformation sciences. My research uses remote sensing and spatial analysis to measure and monitor natural resources especially water resources.