Policy and Sustainability

A monarch butterfly

Our research in environmental policy and sustainability aims to understand the social and political dimensions of sustainable resource management. Faculty research includes:

  • Communities, policy, and government
  • Sustainability and smart-growth policies
  • Energy production from renewable resources
  • Forest economics and tax policies
  • Endangered species and policies

 

Graduate Degrees in Policy and Sustainability

Delve into law and policy issues that affect our natural world. Our students may take classes that cover a range of issues—ecotourism, sustainable development, renewable resources, endangered species and institutional effects on the environment. 

This coursework translates into careers centered on NGOs, policy development and compliance work. Our graduates work for nonprofits, policymakers and state agencies, as well as for international organizations. Employment of specialists in this area is expected to grow in the coming decade, and this degree is an excellent way to combine analytical thinking with research, computer skills, communication and a passion for natural resources.

CURRICULUM

Policy and Sustainability can be pursued as an official area of emphasis through the MS program.

QUESTIONS?

For general questions about pursuing a graduate degree at Warnell, contact a member of the graduate team:

Dr. Kyle Maurice Woosnam, Graduate Coordinator
Office: 1-301A
Phone: 864-653-0167
Email: woosnam@uga.edu

Kate deDufour, Graduate Program Administrator
Office: 1-217
Phone: 706-542-1183

Prospective students should also contact faculty members for questions specific to this disciplinary area. Please check faculty members’ personal pages for information about their individual research interests and projects to ensure that you are contacting the most relevant ones.

Related Articles


A walk through land use, policy and forests

Degree program's new area of emphasis offers a path combining government and the outdoors

Who decides the future of a forest?

The Flint River watershed as mapped by Behnoosh Abbasnezhad
Helping land help you: The role carbon plays in ecosystem services

Note: This story is part of a special issue of The Warnell Log focused on carbon.

There’s a good chance you’ve been to the head of the Flint River and didn’t know it.


Blown away by changes: Hurricanes that hit the South can have an effect on carbon

Note: This story is part of a special issue of The Warnell Log focused on carbon.

The aftermath of a hurricane includes downed trees, damaged saplings, salt water intrusion—and a lot less carbon.


First in flight: Aviation industry looks to UGA research to lower carbon emissions

Note: This story is part of a special issue of The Warnell Log focused on carbon.

You can’t power a large, commercial jet with solar panels. Advances in hydrogen technology still can’t get a plane across the ocean.


Storage units: Mass timber buildings offer a carbon-friendly option for new commercial construction

Note: This story is part of a special issue of The Warnell Log focused on carbon.

If you’re looking to store some carbon, wood-frame buildings will give you a big bang for your buck.

This works great for houses—but can you scale that up to commercial buildings?

Personnel

Dr. Jesse Abrams

Associate Professor, Natural Resource Policy and Sustainability, Graduate Coordinator, Integrative Conservation (ICON) Program

My work on natural resource governance and policy spans diverse forest and rangeland environments from the United States to Argentina, focusing on the participation of local communities and local- to regional-scale organizations in environmental governance, policy implementation, and…

Dr. Jeff Hepinstall-Cymerman

Professor, Landscape Ecology

I am a landscape ecologist and am interested in studying patterns across landscapes. I apply spatial data and modeling techniques to ecological and social systems to measure patterns and processes and to explore the interactions between coupled natural and human systems. I explore landscape…

Dr. Elizabeth G. King

Associate Professor, Ecosystem Ecology & Management

Community and ecosystem ecology, restoration ecology, dryland vegetation dynamics, social-ecological systems, pastoralism in Africa, Georgia coastal salt marshes, resilience, sustainability science

Dr. Yanshu Li

Associate Professor, Forest Economics & Taxation Outreach Specialist

Federal and state forest taxation, economic issues related to forest investment and management, forest products market analysis, economic benefits of forest. 

Dr. Jacek Siry

Stuckey Professor of Forest Economics and Taxation

Timber market modeling, international forestry and conservation, forest management efficiency, multiple-use natural resource management.

Dr. Michael Tarrant

Director, Discover Abroad, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, Human Dimensions

Global education (student learning outcomes) and international protected area management

Support Warnell

We appreciate your financial support. Your gift is important to us and helps support critical opportunities for students and faculty alike, including lectures, travel support, and any number of educational events that augment the classroom experience. Learn more about giving.

Every dollar given has a direct impact upon our students and faculty.