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Browsing by Author "Fernández-Giménez, Maria, committee member"

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    A mixed methods approach to understanding engagement and inclusion of minoritized groups in the society of American foresters
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Dahl, Jamie, author; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; Birmingham, Daniel, committee member; Fernández-Giménez, Maria, committee member; Archibeque-Engle, Shannon, committee member
    People of color, women, and other groups are minoritized in forestry and natural resource professions (Kern et al., 2015; Kuhns et al., 2004; Otero & Brown, 1996; Sharik et al., 2015). Numerous sources share the concern that natural resources fields must begin to reflect the larger demographic makeup of the U.S., or minoritized groups will continue to miss opportunities to influence and lead natural resources decisions (Finney, 2014; Westphal et al., 2022). We need to understand better how current professionals feel engaged and included if we are to bring more people together to understand, enjoy, use, and tend to our forests and natural places. We also need to appreciate how different people connect to the environment and environmental professions. This transformative mixed methods study blends qualitative and quantitative methods to enhance understanding of engagement and inclusion (E&I) of minoritized groups and other members of the Society of American Foresters (SAF). The study took an innovative approach, utilizing environmental justice as a research frame (Schlosberg, 2004; 2007; Schlosberg & Coles, 2016). The survey was sent to all SAF members in 2021 and utilized established engagement and inclusion measures, including perceptions of culture, respect, organizational commitment, sense of belonging, and stereotype threat vulnerability. Additionally, the study asked questions about the pathway of participants to forestry and natural resources as a focus of study and career. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing groups on these E&I measures. Women had significant differences compared to men, with women having lower perceptions of culture, varied perceptions of respect, lower sense of belonging, lower organizational commitment, and greater perceptions of stereotype threat. Members of color had some significant differences compared to White members, with lower perceptions of SAF culture at the national level; and greater perceptions of stereotype threat and specific career barriers. LGBQ+ members had significant differences compared to non-LGBQ+, including lower culture perception and lower sense of belonging. Age group comparisons also showed significant differences and contributed to predictive associations. Additional statistically significant interactions and predictive associations were also found. Respondents shared their pathways to forestry and NR as a focus of study and career, including information about exposure to nature-based activities as a youth and perceptions of career barriers. Several open-ended questions provided rich qualitative data. These data were analyzed using content analysis and an environmental justice frame. Patterns arose that help explain and enhance our statistical findings and further contribute to established literature. Responding SAF members mentioned fundamental environmental justice (EJ) principles including recognition of philosophies, promotion of capabilities, and participation and inclusion. Some members also commented on the ripple effect that SAF E&I problems could have on various human stakeholders, the natural resource itself, and our world (Schlosberg, 2004; 2007; Schlosberg & Coles, 2016; Schlosberg, 2013). Participants expressed concern for impacts on their fellow SAF members and concern for SAF's sustainability as an organization if diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) issues were not addressed better. This research helps convey the urgency and need to keep environmental justice and DEI at the forefront of SAF's evolving strategy and vision. SAF members in this study ask the organization to be a leader in DEI.
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    Investigating policy tools and variables to support collaborative governance and collective learning: a programmatic assessment of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) McIntyre, Kathleen B., author; Schultz, Courtney, advisor; Cheng, Tony, committee member; Fernández-Giménez, Maria, committee member; Duffy, Robert, committee member
    Collaborative governance has increased in prominence as a potential policy tool to support natural resource management within forest contexts. Until recently, there has been little formal space within the governance regime to support collaboration. The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) was authorized by Congress in 2009 to facilitate large landscape restoration projects on federal forest lands through a focus on fire-adapted ecosystems, a mandate to monitor, and a mandate to collaborate throughout the lifetime of the project. In 2017, we conducted a third-party programmatic review of the CFLRP program to assess both theoretical and applied implications of this policy within the collaborative forest restoration context. This dissertation seeks to examine policy that supports collaboration and collective learning within US forest management contexts, and answer questions regarding whether collaborative policy innovations garner collaborative benefits. I also examine the challenges groups face, the factors that influence collaboration, and what types of collective learning activities occur under collaborative policy innovations. Using qualitative research methods including participant observation and interviews, I address these practical and theoretical research questions through three chapters (Chapters 2, 3, and 4). In Chapter 2, I assess to what extent the CFLRP program supported collaborative governance and seek to identify the variables that influence and support collaboration. This chapter reports on the theoretical research questions regarding collaborative benefits interviewees attributed to the program and the various top-down, structural and local, contextual variables that influence collaboration on projects. From these findings, I draw conclusions regarding policy tools and policy implementation to support collaborative governance in forest management. Chapter 3 addresses to what extent the CFLRP program supported collective learning activities and outcomes and the variables that may influence successful collective learning across the program. Collective learning is closely related to collaborative governance and critical to ensuring collaboration and adaptive governance are successful in terms of sharing lessons learned. We identify a variety of activities occurring on each project and then across projects that indicate a level of collective learning within the CFLRP program and ultimately a system of multi-level network governance. These findings have larger implications for building public-private partnerships in an era of decreasing agency budgets and staff capacity. Lastly, Chapter 4 addresses our more applied research objectives regarding the benefits and challenges reported under the CFLRP program. This chapter specifically seeks to identify the value-added and challenges of the program as reported by participants. I report on the practice and policy implications from the CFLRP program in terms of collaborative forest restoration policies within US natural resource governance contexts. The CFLRP program provided a unique opportunity to programmatically assess whether policy can effectively support collaboration, the various local, contextual and top-down, structural variables that were influential in terms of collaborative success, and whether the program was supporting collective learning activities and outcomes. This dissertation sought to fill these research gaps and contribute to the collaborative governance and forest management literature. Within my conclusion, I review the major themes across my chapters and propose future research directions and questions regarding forest management and collaborative governance. Ultimately, my chapters show that there are variety of variables both top-down, structural and local, contextual that both support and facilitate collective learning and collaborative governance, which has implications for crafting more effective natural resource policies. Our research indicates that the CFLRP program effectively supported collaboration and collective learning, and generated a variety of valuable benefits that contributed to the accomplishment of more holistic restoration work and indicated that collaboration can be a valuable policy tool for natural resource management in the future.
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    Social-ecological models for knowledge co-production and learning in collaborative environmental management
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Steger, Cara Elizabeth, author; Klein, Julia A., advisor; Boone, Randall B., committee member; Evangelista, Paul, committee member; Fernández-Giménez, Maria, committee member
    In a rapidly changing world, human communities struggle to address complex environmental problems that are multidimensional, without clear definitions or solutions, and that require collaboration among actors with potentially conflicting objectives. Collaborative approaches to environmental management engage diverse actors who work together to produce shared understanding and novel solutions to these challenging problems. Collaborative approaches encourage participants to learn from each other and reflect on that learning, which can improve their collective ability to cope with variability brought on by global environmental change. Modeling is increasingly used by academics and development practitioners to encourage and inform collaborative environmental management, yet there has been insufficient attention paid to how collaborative modeling processes interact with the social and cultural factors that shape environmental outcomes. This dissertation engages at the intersection of science and culture to examine the use of social-ecological models in the context of collaborative environmental management. First, I present a snapshot of current barriers and best practices in collaborative or transdisciplinary environmental work, using a global survey to inform a conceptual model of knowledge co-production and learning. I then apply this conceptual model in a case study of a community-managed Afroalpine grassland in the Ethiopian highlands known as Guassa, using a combination of cognitive, geospatial, and simulation modeling. Specifically, I bring together insights from local knowledge and remote sensing analyses to present a more holistic understanding of social and biophysical change in this area and to situate the environmental consequences in relation to locally-defined ecosystem services. I then use individual and small group mental modeling to compare how different types of people involved in managing Guassa conceptualize the key components of this social-ecological system. I describe a co-designed agent-based model of shrub encroachment into the Guassa grassland, using it to improve our understanding of the system and to explore potential management interventions. I assess the learning experienced by participants in these mental modeling and agent-based modeling exercises to advance our understanding of the kinds of learning that occur throughout a collaborative modeling process. This work informs the design and application of social-ecological models to contribute to more equitable and sustainable collaborative environmental management.