Research Forester

Athens, GA

Research interests:

1. Social and cultural dimensions of natural resource use and conservation, including:

a.       environmental values

b.      land use choice

c.       social networks

d.      race and ethnicity.

2. Natural resource management and policy, including:

a.       land use and sustainable development

b.      forests on private lands

c.       national parks and protected areas

d.      participation, collaboration, and community-based approaches

e.       interdisciplinary research

f.       linking research and practice.

Current projects:

1. The social and cultural structure of private forestry in the U.S. South.

2. Environmental change and community resilience along the Gulf Coast, with Wayde Morse (Auburn University)

3. Influence of ecotourism on local community environmental values, with Wayde Morse (Auburn University)

4. Language and cultural models in stakeholder input in natural resource management, with Max Pfeffer (Cornell University)

5.  Forest Service ARRA Investments: A Socio-economic Assessment, with Susan Charnley (PNW) and Pamela Jakes (NRS)  

Education:

Ph.D.   Renewable Natural Resource Studies. Minor: Anthropology. 1991. University of Arizona.

M.S.    Watershed Management. 1979. University of Arizona.

B.S.     Natural Resources. 1977. University of Michigan.

Honors and Awards:

Director’s Multicultural Organization Award, Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service. 2010.

Fellow, Society for Applied Anthropology. 2002.

Selected Publications:

Schelhas, John, Sparkler Samar, Cassandra Johnson, Kwaku Asumadu, Francis Tease, John Stanturf, Dominic Blay. In press. Opportunities and Capacity for Community-based Forest Carbon Sequestration and Monitoring in Ghana. Nature & Faune (FAO Africa)

Schelhas, John, and Max J. Pfeffer. 2009. When global conservation meets local livelihoods: Policy and Management Lessons. Conservation Letters 2(6):278-285

Surendra, G.C., Sayeed Mehmood, John Schelhas. 2009. Segmenting landowners based on their information seeking behavior: A look at landowner education on the red oak borer.  Journal of Forestry 107(6):313-319

Gyawali, B. R. Fraser, J. Schelhas, W. Tadesse, Y. Wang, and J. Bukenya.  2009. Human Well-being and Land Cover Types in the Forest-Dependent Region of Southern United States: Evidence from Census and Satellite Imagery Data.” International Journal of Ecology & Development 14:81-94

Schelhas, John, and Max J. Pfeffer. 2008. Saving Forests, Protecting People? Environmental Conservation in Central America. (Globalization and Environment Series.) Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

Molnar, Joseph J., John Schelhas, Carrie Holeski. 2007. Nonindustrial private forest landowners and the southern pine beetle: Factors affecting monitoring, preventing, and controlling infestations. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 31(2):93-98.

Fraser, Rory, Buddhi Gyawalli, and John Schelhas. 2005. Blacks in space: Land tenure and well-being in Perry County, Alabama. Small Scale Forest Economics, Management and Policy 4(1):21-33.

Gan, Jianbang, Okwudili Onianwa, John Schelhas, Gerald C. Wheelock, and Mark R. Dubois. 2005. Does race matter in landowners’ participation in conservation incentive programs? Society and Natural Resources 18(5):421-435.           

Schelhas, John, Robert Zabawa, and Joe Molnar. 2003. New opportunities for social research on forest landowners in the South. Southern Rural Sociology 19(1):60-69.

Schelhas, John. 2002. Race, ethnicity, and natural resources in the United States: A Review. Natural Resources Journal 42(4):723-763.

Contact:

320 Green Street, # 245                                                                     

Athens, GA 30602

Phone:  (706) 559-4260

Fax:  (706) 559-4266

Email:  jschelhas@fs.fed.us