I am particularly interested in finding ways to use geospatial technology and data to explore ways to integrate spatial processes and outcomes into my work. I have published research using multivariate statistical modeling as well as structured iterative analysis of qualitative data. I utilize a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data in my research, including extensive use of secondary data, mail and internet surveys, key informant interviews, and focus groups).
#WOOSTER OHIO FORM Z DRIVERS#
My work has spanned multiple, overlapping scales to better understand the relative contributions of individual, household, community, institutional, and national/global drivers of farm structural change, land use transformations, and environmentally-relevant behaviors. Throughout my career, I have sought to balance the importance of structural determinants of social outcomes with the notion that individual and collective actors have significant agency in determining their choices and behaviors.
I believe deeply in the value of using social science theory and mixed methods to address pressing problems in the United States and abroad. I am broadly trained as a sociologist, with significant background in geography, economics, political science, and anthropology. While my research and home are in Wooster, I regularly come to the Columbus campus to teach and meet with faculty, students, and colleagues. There is a growing group of SENR faculty, graduate students, and post-docs based at the OARDC working on interdisciplinary and engaged scholarship and outreach related to social and environmental aspects of complex working landscapes. My office and work team are based at the Ohio Agriculture Research and Development Center (OARDC) – OSU’s large agricultural research station based in Wooster, Ohio (90 miles northeast of Columbus, in the heart of Amish country). Prior to that, I served as Co-Director of the Program on Agricultural Technology Studies (and faculty member with a joint appointment in Sociology and Urban & Regional Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I moved to Ohio State in August 2016 after spending the last 15 years as a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology at Utah State University.
I worked and did research in Nepal and Indonesia in the 1980s, and have raised sheep, chickens and livestock guard dogs since the early 1990s. My three graduate degrees are all from the University of Wisconsin – a MS in Rural Sociology, MA in Agricultural Economics, and PhD in Sociology.
Ponds, Fisheries, and Aquatic Managementīorn in Boston, I grew up in Utah before doing my undergraduate work in California (Deep Springs College) and New York (Cornell).Watch and Learn about Building Ohio State.Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park.Environment, Economy, Development, Sustainability.Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife Minor.Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability Minor.Environmental Policy and Decision Making.Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability.Individual Visits: Virtual and In-Person.