Dr. Jeffrey Gerwing
| Grant Category: | Fulbright-Nehru Environmental Leadership Program |
| Field of Specialization: | Forest Ecosystem Restoration, Management and Governance |
| Name: | Dr. Jeffrey Gerwing |
| Official Address and Designation: | Department of Environmental sciences and Management, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Portland State University Portland, Oregon |
| Host Institution in India: | Ashoka Trust for Research in
Ecology and the Environment Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| Duration of Grant: | 4 months October 2011 |
| Brief Bio: | |
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Dr. Jeffrey Gerwing is an Associate Professor of environmental science and management at Portland State University. His area of research focuses on forest management and restoration efforts in tropical and temperate forests. His doctoral research, conducted in the Brazilian Amazon, focused on understanding the impacts of typical and reduced-impact logging practices on forest structure and composition with a particular emphasis on the ecology and management of lianas (i.e., woody vines). While in Brazil he was an Associate Researcher with The Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (IMAZON) where he collaborated with Brazilian researchers and co-authored several publications including a book titled "Ecology and Management of Lianas in the Eastern Amazon. Presently Dr Gerwing's research focuses on working in collaboration with the United States Forest Service and a diverse group of local stakeholders to design and implement ecosystem restoration projects on the Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, USA. The goals of these projects include improving fish and wildlife habitat; restoring water quality; and reducing hazardous fuels while generating revenue to enhance local economies. Dr Gerwing is particularly interested in using an adaptive management approach to evaluate the effectiveness of restoration projects and provide data to improve the design and execution of future projects. Specific projects currently underway include using community-based monitoring to study the effectiveness of road closure devices and studying the effectiveness of created forest openings to provide wildlife forage
As a Fulbright-Nehru scholar Dr. Gerwing is associated with the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. His research project is titled as "understands the role of community-based monitoring in collaborative forest management in the Western Ghats". The use of collaborative forest management (CFM) has grown rapidly over the past two decades with the primary goals of increasing social equity and improving forest management. Success in achieving these goals, however, has been mixed. One approach to improving the success of CFM may be to engage members of the community in project monitoring. The objective of this study is to assess the role of community-based monitoring in fostering social learning and improving forest management practices in the Western Ghats based on data from field visits, interviews, and document review. |
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