Communities and Environment in Rural America
This is an initiative through UNH's Carsey Institute. https://carsey.unh.edu
As a Faculty Fellow for the Carsey School of Public Policy, I work with interdisciplinary teams to conduct research on changing rural communities with special attention to how environmental stewardship, local energy production, and cultural development can revitalize these communities and the families in them. My work with Carsey has included human-environment interactions, land use/land cover change, and development of survey instruments. These survey instruments have been used in over 20,000 telephone surveys, including an national survey of 2000 people, covering topics on community engagement and perceptions about the environment.
As a Faculty Fellow for the Carsey School of Public Policy, I work with interdisciplinary teams to conduct research on changing rural communities with special attention to how environmental stewardship, local energy production, and cultural development can revitalize these communities and the families in them. My work with Carsey has included human-environment interactions, land use/land cover change, and development of survey instruments. These survey instruments have been used in over 20,000 telephone surveys, including an national survey of 2000 people, covering topics on community engagement and perceptions about the environment.
Example research:
Hartter, J. and C.R. Colocousis. 2011. Environmental, Economic, and Social Changes in Rural America Visible in Survey Data and Satellite Images. Issue Brief No. 23. Carsey Institute. University of New Hampshire, Durham.
This brief focuses on the changing landscapes of different types of rural America where social, economic, and ecological changes are occurring over large areas: the Northern Forest, Central Appalachia, and the Pacific Northwest. These three study sites embody varying historical reliance on land and natural resources and represent very different socioeconomic dynamics. Their common and unique challenges are explored, along with the far-reaching implications of land-cover change in their areas. Data used includes both telephone surveys and satellite imagery to illustrate the unique changes seen in rural America in recent years.