College of Education and Human Development

SRTM Faculty Sammie Powers, Hung-Ling (Stella) Liu, and Ellen Rodgers Receive U.S. Geological Survey Award in Support of a Study to Advance Climate Adaptation and Conservation Efforts

Sammie Powers

Sammie Powers, assistant professor in the Recreation Management and Sport and Recreation Studies programs within the School of Sport, Recreation, and Tourism Management (SRTM) at George Mason University, is leading a team that has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in support of an interdisciplinary, multi-university project for which she is the Principal Investigator titled “Social Network Analysis of the Environmental Justice and Climate Justice Community Active in Climate Adaptation and Conservation.” The project focuses on the development and testing of a social network analysis methodology for the USGS National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) to identify, map, and measure the patterns of organizations that are engaged in environmental and climate justice work as it relates to climate adaptation and conservation.

Stella Liu

The project team led by Powers includes Co-Principal Investigators Hung-Ling (Stella) Liu and Ellen Rodgers—both of whom are associate professors in George Mason’s Recreation Management and Sport and Recreation Studies programs; and Ted Hsuan Yun Chen, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy in George Mason’s College of Science. The team also includes Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf (University of Montana) and Nate Trauntvein (Utah State University).

According to USGS, the network of National and Regional CASCs is a partnership that connects scientists with natural and cultural resource managers and local communities to help fish, wildlife, water, land, and people adapt to a changing climate. The CASC network is comprised of the National CASC headquartered in Reston, Virginia and nine regional CASCs, covering the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawai’i, the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands, and the U.S. Caribbean.

Ellen Rodgers

The goal of the study led by Powers is to develop a methodology for social network analysis that will enhance the ability of CASCs, resource managers, restoration professionals, and land stewards to expand and sustain effective partnerships that integrate the principles of environmental and climate justice into their climate adaptation and conservation efforts. Powers elaborated on the project’s goals and its importance in addressing the threat climate change poses to all populations, especially those that are marginalized and the most vulnerable. She stated, “Escalating environmental challenges, coupled with continued environmental and climate injustices, warrant an urgent rethinking of our strategies for advancing climate adaptation and conservation. Success in these endeavors hinges on cohesive and strategic collaboration among a robust network of partners who are actively engaged, committed to the principles of both environmental and climate justice, and work effectively across sectors, scales, and jurisdictions. Building, maintaining, and strengthening such a network is not without challenges, making the identification and understanding of relevant partners with shared resource management objectives vital for successful collaborative conservation and climate adaptation that center environmental and climate justice.”

Powers discussed how the emphasis of this project on stakeholder engagement, methodology development, and application to practice aligns perfectly with her research priorities regarding parks, recreation, and conservation. She explained, “The organizations that will be engaging in our study will include government agencies, such as those focused on outdoor recreation and natural resource management, non-profit entities, tribes, and universities. All these are stakeholder groups with whom our team often works. I am especially interested in the intersections of environmental sustainability and equity. Being able to develop a better understanding of how organizations, including many public and non-profit groups, are collaboratively addressing environmental and climate justice in relation to conservation and climate adaptation is an exciting opportunity.”

The study is built around a comprehensive approach designed to provide valuable insights that will support the CASCs and other resource managers in enhancing their conservation and climate adaptation efforts focused on environmental and climate justice. This approach consists of four parts as described below:

• Semi-structured focus groups will be held with CASC leaders and web searches will be conducted to identify key organizations and partners including government agencies, non-profits, tribes, universities, and other stakeholders engaged in environmental and climate justice work related to climate adaptation and conservation.
• Text mining techniques and online surveys will be used to gather detailed data on these organizations’ relationships, focusing on aspects such as relationship strength, interaction frequency, trust, purpose, and information flow.
• In constructing the social network analysis methodology, the project team will develop code in R and Python for two multilayer network approaches: multilayer community detection and exponential random graph models.
• The social network analysis methodology will be implemented in the National CASC as well as the Regional Northwest and Northeast CASCs to: 1) identify current and potential collaborative groups; 2) assess factors that predict the formation of successful and effective collaborative ties; and, 3) compare variations across the regional and national networks that might reflect differences in the landscape and populations of the selected areas.

Powers shared her thoughts on why she decided to get involved with this project. “This project caught my eye right away,” she emphasized. “When I first saw the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), I immediately sent it to several of our team members, as most of us had recently completed a project with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy that centered on many of the same topics and methods related to partnership networks for conservation and climate adaptation within the Appalachian Trail Landscape. I remember saying to them that it felt like this NOFO was written for us. It seemed like such a good fit that we just had to apply. Building on the success we achieved in the prior project with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and with the wonderful addition of Ted Chen, a computational social scientist specializing in network science methods from the Department of Environmental Science and Policy here at George Mason, we eagerly joined together to develop our proposal and were excited to strengthen this interdisciplinary collaboration.”

“More broadly,” Powers continued, “the project appealed to me because I really value the connection between research and practice, and the main idea behind this initiative is to develop and employ network methods to identify current and potential collaborative groups and assess factors that predict the formation of successful and effective collaborative ties.”

In her other comments, Powers stressed that the developed methodology and the findings of its application in the selected regions will enable the CASCs and other resource managers to successfully engage with a broader array of partners, thus strengthening capacity for collaborative conservation and climate adaptation. She added, “The potential impact of the project is really exciting to me, and I love getting to work with a variety of organizations in the process.”

In her concluding remarks, Powers emphasized that this study is representative of the innovative research that SRTM faculty are engaged in. She stated, “This project is an excellent illustration of the types of outdoor recreation, environmental stewardship, and natural resource management work that many of us do in SRTM. Specifically in the human dimensions of natural resource management realm, this project is a great example of such research which brings together an interdisciplinary and multi-university team to tackle important and timely challenges related to climate adaptation, conservation, and environmental and climate justice. I believe that our team’s diverse areas of content, methodological, and geographic expertise set us up for success in crafting a strong proposal that played to our strengths and aligned with our shared research interests.”

Please join the College of Education and Human Development in extending our congratulations to George Mason faculty Sammie Powers, Hung-Ling (Stella) Liu, Ellen Drogin Rodgers, and Ted Hsuan Yun Chen on their well-deserved selection for this USGS award. This important study reflects the forward-thinking work and ideas of this team and other faculty within SRTM on initiatives that will enhance natural resource management, conservation, and climate adaptation—all of which are critical in addressing the many complex and pressing issues presented by climate change.