Social and Economic Research Group

 

Dr Anna Lawrence - Head of the Social and Economic Research Group

Anna is focusing on the strategic development of the Social and Economic Research Group with an emphasis on identifying and responding to research priorities related to the forest strategies of England, Scotland and Wales and developing partnerships with academic researchers.

She has 18 years of experience in social forestry, and research into the cultural, social and political aspects of environmental management and prior to joining Forest Research established and developed the Human Ecology Programme at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute.

Bianca Ambrose-Oji - Social Scientist

Bianca contributes to a variety of the social research programmes under the “Well Being and Governance” and the “Social Inclusion, Enjoyment, Use and Management” themes. Her key research interests and expertise relate to: the best ways of linking communities to forest and woodland use and management, as well as exploring ways to link communities with forestry agencies and foresters; the development of research methods that can link the needs and concerns of the public to policy makers; the development of adaptive forms of forest governance that respond to changing social, economic and ecological conditions.

She has 18 years of experience in social forestry and forest governance and joined Forest Research in October 2008.

Claudia Carter - Project Leader

Claudia leads the social science research on the EC project RECOAL, addressing coal ash disposal and pollution in the West Balkan area and is carrying out research exploring ways and benefits of offenders and those on probation becoming active in nature conservation and forestry work.

She is a joint coordinator of the EC Science and Society project on Participatory Approaches in Science and Technology led by the Macaulay Institute. She has a MSc degree in Environmental Management and joined Forest Research in July 2006.

Vanesa Castán Broto - Research Engineer

Vanesa currently participates in the EC project RECOAL (INCO-WBC-1-509173) carrying out social research under the supervision of Claudia Carter to develop participatory solutions to coal ash disposal and pollution in the West Balkan area.

Dr Norman Dandy - Project Leader

Norman is researching collaborative approaches to deer management and developing new techniques to engage stakeholders in the decision and policy making processes.

He has a PhD on international conservation politics and joined Forest Research in May 2006.

Dr David Edwards - Project Leader

David is researching social aspects of sustainability impact assessment in Europe, and the relationship between ethnicity and countryside access in UK.

He has a Social Science PhD, which explored social and environmental change in Tanzania. Prior to joining Forest Research he worked as a researcher on community forestry and rural development programmes in Africa and Asia.

Dr Mariella Marzano - Project Leader

Mariella is currently working on EFORWOOD, a pan-European project investigating Sustainable Forest Management.

She has a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology which explored rural development and natural resource management issues in Sri Lanka. Prior to joining Forest Research she carried out research into volunteer biodiversity monitoring networks and co-managed a pan-European COST Action – INTERCAFE - aimed at developing interdisciplinary networks for the management of human-wildlife (specifically cormorant-fisheries) conflicts.

Dr Jake Morris - Project Leader

Jake is researching local and regional stakeholders' perceptions of sustainability issues and developing social criteria and indicators to assess the impacts of European policy on land-use. He is also exploring barriers to increased levels of physical activity in the countryside.

He has a Social Science PhD and worked as a post-doctoral research fellow before joining Forest Research.

Dr Liz O’Brien - Project Leader

Liz is researching forestry’s contribution to public education and learning, and health and well being. She also explores the way in which people value trees and woodland.

She has a Social Science PhD and her previous work includes research on land management and environmental conservation by organisations, landowners and farmers.

Roz Owen - Project Leader

Roz is undertaking the evaluation of the Cydcoed programme, a Forestry Commission Wales community development programme in the Objective One area of Wales.

Dr Vadims Sarajevs - Economist

Vadims is planning the development and integration of economics research into the Forest Research portfolio.

He has a PhD on monetary issues in transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe and has worked for the Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition and the Department of Economics at the University of Stirling.

Dr Gregory Valatin - Senior Economist

Gregory is planning the development and integration of economics research into the Forest Research portfolio.

He has a PhD on "Justice, Human Security and the Environment" and has worked for Imperial College, London on the impact of electricity market reforms in developing countries on poverty and renewable energy.