SOCIAL SCIENCES INTEREST GROUP
Program Description
The Social Sciences interest group is designed for students who want to study the social science aspects of the environment
and natural resources. Natural resource planning, policy, business, economics, and applied management issues provide the context
for social science research. Students are expected to identify and develop an understanding of relevant social science disciplines
such as sociology, planning, political science, law, economics, business, and anthropology. Study areas may include community
forestry and rural development, land use planning, natural resource policy and law, public administration and decision making,
social, business, and economic impact assessment, environmental externalities, and recreation management.
Social Sciences graduates are employed in both the public and private sectors. Employers include universities, federal and
state land management agencies, state and local planning and environmental management departments, legislative bodies, consulting
groups, business, institutional investors, advocacy groups, domestic and international non-government organizations, and
professional associations. Typical positions include planner, policy analyst, researcher, and teacher.
Course work is flexible to cover the diversity of interests
within the interest group.
Current Research
- • Cooperative management of subsistence use of natural resources
- • Governance institutions for forests and natural resources
- • Growth management
- • Valuation of environmental externalities
- • Managing forest land on the urban/forest interface
- • Recreation visitor use patterns and impacts
- • Northwest forest policy issues, including resource sustainability, harvest regulation, log exports,
and the international impacts of U.S. management and policy
- • Sustainable business and stakeholder relationships
- • Organizational behavior
- • Politics of land use and forest practice regulation
- • Process of assessing environmental impacts
- • Collaborative watershed planning and management
- • Environmental economics
- • Public participation in administrative processes
- • Sustainability theory development
- • Social and economic aspects of landscape management
- • Sustainable development of resource-producing communities
- • Urban forest benefits
For current funded grants in this interest group, click here.
| Faculty | Areas of Interest |
|
Stanley Asah
| Human dimensions of natural resource management; Human environment systems analyses; Environmental social psychology |
|
Bruce Bare
| Forest management and economics, forest valuation, timber taxation, timber and timberland appraisal, management science, planning, forest policy, and decision support systems. |
|
Gordon Bradley
| Forest land use planning; Impact assessment; Conservation area planning; Urban ecology and urban forestry |
|
Dorothy Paun
| Triple bottom line sustainability performance assessment (financial, environmental, and corporate social responsibility) |
|
John Perez-Garcia
| Trade analysis and modeling of forest sector |
|
Clare Ryan
| Environmental policy; Urban ecology and management; Conflict management |
Affiliated Research Staff
Darryll Johnson
Jane Swanson
Mark VandeKamp
Kathy Wolf
For further information:
Interest Group Coordinator: Dr. Gordon Bradley
School of Forest Resources
Box 352100
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-2100
email gbradley@u.washington.edu; FAX 206-543-3254, Phone 206-685-0881
For admissions packet:
Office of Student Services
School of Forest Resources
Box 352100
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98195-2100
email sfradv@u.washington.edu; FAX 206-685-0790; Phone 206-543-7081