My research interests have expanded from a more narrow focus on physical geography and forest ecology in my early graduate course work and MS thesis to a broader concern with how social systems and power relations affect human-environmental interactions in my PhD studies and subsequent work. The field of "POLITICAL ECOLOGY" seems to include my interests quite well. This approach integrates human ecology, how people use their bio-physical environments to "make a living," with political economy, the economic and political institutions that structure social activities. I am interested in the scientific basis of environmental processes, but I also want to explore how political and economic forces affect environmental decisions today as well as in the past. My concrete research interests have centered on forest ecology, farming systems in the Himalaya, community forestry, and citizen involvement in environmental decision making, especially in the Aclean-up@ of the US nuclear weapons factories. Check out the links below to learn more.

• Farming Systems and Forest Use in Nepal
• Forest Ecology in Nepal Himalaya
• Community Forestry in the Himalayas
• Citizen Participation in Environmental Decision Making at the US Nuclear Weapons Complex