Louise Fortmann

Professor, Rudy Grah Professor of Forestry and Sustainable Development
Ph.D.  
  

121 Giannini Hall
Berkeley, California 94720
fortmann@nature.berkeley.edu
office: 510-642-7018   lab: 510-642-7018   fax:  510-642-6847

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My students and I study the outcomes of natural resource use and management for individuals and for communities. My own research is located in California and southern Africa. My students work all over the world. Our combined research addresses five interrelated questions:

1) gender- how do women and men differ in their access to, control of, management of and responsibility for providing natural resources and natural resource products. What are the social and ecological results of these differences.

2) property-how are property rights and claims to natural resources structured and distributed and how does this affect people/communities dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods?

3) poverty--what is the extent, nature and distribution of poverty among natural resource dependent households and communities and what causes it?

4) community control of natural resources- what factors facilitate or impede community control and management of natural resources? What are the social and ecological outcomes of community control and management of natural resources?

5) knowledge production- under what conditions are participatory research methods effective? What social structures and processes facilitate successful collaboration between professional and civil scientists?

1) The Effects of Land Holding and Land Use on Ecosystems- Using data from 1957 and 1995, in collaboration with geographer Professor Peter Walker of the University of Oregon and forest ecologist, Dr. Sarah Marvin, I have been doing what a three county interdisciplinary study of the social and ecological effects of patterns of land holding and land use in California forests and woodlands. We are particularly interested in the effects of land concentration, land fragmentation and absentee ownership since there is a lot of folk wisdom on this topic but almost no real data or analysis.

2) Longitudinal Tree Products Access Study- In collaboration with Zimbabwean social scientist, Dr. Nontokozo Nemarundwe, I have been doing a longitudinal study of access to tree products under circumstances of major social change including the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy.

3) Democratizing Science- In collaboration with colleagues in eight sites in six countries, I have been exploring participatory research processes. Our current focus is on the different viewpoints of professional and local researchers.

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