The Department of Society and Conservation has an active graduate society which meets regularly to address topics of interest to graduate students. The group also schedules regular social events to help unite grad students, students from other campus departments and faculty.
M.S. Candidate, Recreation Management
Advisor: Norma Nickerson
Research Interests: My research interest is nature-based tourism, and the influential
role it plays on local communities and the natural resources that make
the tourism experiences possible. I am currently working with the
Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research (ITRR) as a research
assistant. My thesis involves studying geotourism and the general use
of National Geographic's geotourism map called the "Crown of the
Continent." Another educational interest of mine is teen-based
wilderness programs, and how they impact young adults' perceptions of
the natural world and life in general. I love God, my future wife
Katherine, and any activity that enables me to get outside; especially
backpacking and fishing.
M.S. Candidate, Resource Conservation
Advisor: Laurie Yung
Research Interests: My broad research interests are the socio-cultural dimensions of conservation across the Western mosaic of private and public, working and protected landscapes. In particular I am interested in the democratization of natural resource decision-making through greater integration of local communities and their values. My master’s thesis project is looking at the ways in which resident landowners on the Kootenai National Forest in northwest Montana relate to their landscape. Using a mix of in-depth interviews and a participatory mapping exercise, I am exploring the connection between these place-based relationships and landowner views on wildfire/hazardous fuel issues. I am currently a research assistant with the College of Forestry-based Wilderness Institute. Having obtained A B.Sc. in wildlife biology, my previous professional experience includes stints with the National Park Service (Mississippi), Fish and Wildlife Service (California), and US Geological Survey (Hawai’i).
M.S. Candidate, Resource Conservation
Advisor: Bill Borrie/Laurie Yung
Research Interests: I'm a master's student in the International Resource Management program. I'm interested in international protected area issues, particularly involving access to and use of natural resources by local indigenous groups. I have a broad interest in how cultural meanings and values shape resource and land-use, and will be living in Ghana to study this relationship while volunteering for the Peace Corps in 2006-08. I'm also interested in how conservation and development management can be devolved to more effectively include indigenous and other marginalized interests. My love of the outdoors has grown from nine seasons living and working in the backcountry of Glacier National Park.
M.S. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: Wayne Freimund
Research Interests: My research interests focus on the effectiveness of job-related e-learning training components currently being implemented by federal government conservation training institutions that conduct wilderness-related training courses for land managers. My interest in the relationship between Internet technology and conservation stems from my current position at the Wilderness Institute as Wilderness Information Specialist for www.wilderness.net.
M.S. Candidate, Resource Conservation
Advisor: Steve Siebert
Research Interests: I’m a master’s student in the International Conservation and Development (ICD) program (formerly Int. Resource Management), studying with Dr. Steve Siebert. My undergraduate degree is in biology from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. In the year before I began at the University of Montana I worked for the Forest Service in Bonners Ferry, ID, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in San Francisco, CA. My experiences with habitat restoration and my desire to study in an international setting led me to the ICD Program, which has been an excellent experience. I partnered with the Sonoran Institute (Tucson, AZ) for my research and spent a year working on a habitat restoration project in the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. Specifically, my professional paper will focus on the first-year growth and survivorship of mesquite, cottonwood, and willow trees in revegetation plantings on the lower Colorado River. I plan to complete the program in December of 2007.
M.S. Candidate, Resource Conservation
Advisor: James Burchfield
Research Interests: My research interests are focused on natural resource policy, particularly in regards to international protected areas, collaboration and conflict resolution. I have a regional focus on Central America, especially Guatemala, where I worked as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2005-2007 as an ecotourism consultant.
M.S Candidate, Recreation Management
Advisor: Norma Nickerson
Research Interests: My main research interest is in exploring the use of digital technologies in natural resource interpretation and recreation. More specifically, I am interested in examining the visitor experience with technology, the impacts that technology has on visitors use patterns, and the ethical issues related to the use technology in wilderness. My thesis explores the visitor experience with self-guided GPS triggered multimedia technology at Cedar Breaks National Monument.
M.S. Candidate, Recreation Management
Advisor: Perry Brown
Research Interests: Fall 2007 finds me in my first semester of graduate school in the Rec. Mgmt. program. I am still in the process of finding a project; however my areas of research interest include the role heritage sites and natural resources in Montana and the west play in the overall experience of recreation, how planning practices and polices of recreation are implemented, and how society affects decisions in recreation management. Prior to coming to UM I spent three seasons with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at Bannack State Park doing various interpretive and maintenance work. As an undergraduate in Bozeman I assisted with a graduate project monitoring cattle and sheep utilization of spotted knapweed that had been treated with various attractants. This past summer I spent working for the Smithsonian Folklife office as a technical crew member.
Ph.D. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: Wayne Freimund
Research Interests: My research interests are focused on the social dimensions of protected area management, natural resource policy, and conflict resolution, specifically within state and national parks. My current projects include a study of visitor/wildlife interactions at Yellowstone National Park and a study of transportation issues and visitor experience surrounding the Going to the Sun Road mitigation project at Glacier National Park. I have also worked on research projects centering on place dependence at an Illinois state park, visitor perceptions of non-native and invasive plants within an Illinois state park, and a study of trust between site-based volunteer organizations and the managers of the natural resource areas they serve.
Ph.D. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: James Burchfield
Research Interests: I am studying relationships between people and wild places. Relationships to places (especially local public wildlands) are complex, dynamic and varied. Types of relationships with places influence opinions about user conflicts and management approaches. My interest in this topic is related to my work at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute where I have been studying these relationships to place on federal lands including Denali National Park and the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. My PhD dissertation will focus on how people build and maintain relationships with wild places and with managers of those places. I want to assess how relationships between people and wild places affect, and are affected by, management policies and actions. I am interested in how relationships with natural environments differ between and within communities, across cultures, classes and other social divisions.
Ph.D. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: Steve McCool
Research Interests: My focus is international conservation and development with a specialization in protected area, poverty, resource use, and displacement issues. The working title of my Ph.D. dissertation is “Causes and consequences of displacement and resettlement in Banhine National Park, Mozambique.” Before coming to UM I was a Fulbright Fellow in Swaziland for two years where I worked with rural communities, civil society, and the Swazi government on governance issues regarding a World Bank/GEF-supported conservation and tourism corridor project. I also have research and work experience in Alaska, Montana, Washington state, and Washington D.C. My M.Sc. thesis addressed conflicting understandings of subsistence and wilderness in Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska. I am currently teaching a grad/undergrad class titled Sociology of Environment and Development.
Ph.D. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: Bill Borrie
Research Interests: My research interests are focused on recreation and protected areas management. More specifically, I am interested in the relationships individuals develop with wilderness and protected areas. These relationships may become integral components of wildland management frameworks and may improve our ability to facilitate quality recreation experiences. Currently, I am working with the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute to investigate changing relationships with wilderness in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeast Minnesota.
Ph.D. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: Wayne Freimund
Research Interests: Community participation in protected areas management is a focal point of my doctoral studies. I recently completed a Master’s degree at the University of Pretoria in South Africa where I researched the role Tswana indigenous knowledge plays in adapting a sustainable development project to local constraints. Nature-related work experience has included environmental education: Riverside State Park in WA, the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (AmeriCorps) in NY, and Outdoor School in OR; and wilderness guiding in Montana. Hobbies include backpacking, dance, mountain biking, swimming in lakes, travel, literature, and stimulating conversation.
Ph.D. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: Neil Moisey
Research Interests: I am a second year PhD student. My research interests focus on nature-based commercial guiding and outfitting, specifically the influence of the commercial guide on visitors to wilderness and protected areas.
Ph.D. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: Wayne Freimund
Research Interests: My research interests center around the human dimensions of protected area management and planning from a wilderness, park, and reserve perspective. Values, visitor experiences, visitor management, soundscape policy and management, institutional learning, human capacity building, philosophy of science, and environmental ethics are key areas of personal interest. Overall, my goals are to assist managers who are confronting complex problems involving increasing demand and rapid social change. Currently, I am involved in three primary projects: studying the role of the natural soundscape in the national park experience in Yellowstone National Park, mitigating the effects of the restoration of the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, and national park management and policy development in Guinea, West Africa. My background includes studies in Anthropology, French, Linguistics, and both Eastern and Western Philosophy. I have also spent several years living and working abroad, primarily in Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Some of my favorite off-campus activities involve indulging my passion for high alpine areas: hiking toward summits, backpacking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.
Ph.D. Candidate, Forestry
Advisor: Martin Nie
Research Interests: My broad interests are in natural resource policy, and I am particularly interested the integration of scientific knowledge and concepts into policy and law. I am currently working under a McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Grant looking at the intersection of science, policy, and the law in forest and wildlife management. Specifically, I have researched some of the contested scientific concepts in the Endangered Species Act, evaluated how the courts have dealt with conflicting or uncertain science, and looked at how decision-makers are required to respond in the face of scientific uncertainty. My dissertation builds upon these areas of research and looks at how the U.S. Forest Service analyzes the cumulative effects of their actions, particularly with respect to biodiversity. My M.S. is in Conservation Biology and Sustainable Development from the University of Maryland, and my research looked at the integration of scientific and indigenous knowledge in conservation programs in Africa. I did my undergraduate work at Stanford, where I majored in International Relations and minored in Biology. The majority of my professional experience is as an educator, both with organizations like Outward Bound and Global Routes and as a high school science teacher.