| I have three main research interests which all revolve around participation, collaboration and natural resource planning. | ||
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| 1) Collaboration and participation in natural resource management and open space planning | ||
| I am interested in how people overcome conflicts to work together to jointly solve natural resource problems. I have conducted a couple of case studies of watershed groups in Indiana. Currently, my graduate student, Aaron Thompson, and I are studying a collaborative open space planning initiative in Harrison County, IN. We are also exploring the extent of collaboration to protect farmland in the Midwestern United States. | 2) Social indicators of watershed planning | |
| This work is part of a large EPA Region V initiative to develop social indicators to measure the outcomes of non-point source projects. It can take a long time to see water quality improvements from watershed projects. Social indicators are a way to measure a project’s progress in a shorter timeframe. Social indicators include knowledge/awareness, attitudes, capacity and behavior change. I have two PhD students working on evaluating a social indicator framework in Indiana watersheds. I am co-leading the larger regional initiative. I have also just received two grants to expand this work; please see research opportunities below. | 3) Rural water supply in developing countries | |
| My dissertation focused on the role of participation in rural drinking water projects in India. I have since extended this work to look at drinking water projects in Peru. I am also working with Dev Niyogi to incorporate social dimensions into climate change models to address water vulnerability. | ||
| I am involved in a number of other projects including Living Laboratories on the Wabash, a multidisciplinary endeavor funded by Purdue’s Center for the Environment. | ||
