Social Scientist, Centre for Human and Ecological Sciences
Email: jake.morris@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1420 22255
Tel direct: +44 (0)1420 526201
Fax: +44 (0)1420 23653
Address:
Forest Research
Alice Holt Lodge
Farnham
Surrey GU10 4LH
UK
Jake Morris studied for a Honours Degree in modern languages at Oxford University, followed by a Masters at the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of London. In 2004 he completed an ESRC-funded doctoral thesis on local participation and protected area management, based at the Sociology Department of Lancaster University, where he then continued to work as a post-doctoral research fellow.
He joined Forest Research in August 2005.
Current role
Social Scientist, Social and Economic Research Group, Centre for Human and Ecological Sciences
Jake manages and contributes to a variety of the social research projects under the “Well-being”, “Governance”, “Society and Diversity” and “Evaluation and Appraisal” research programmes.
Responsibilities include the design, execution and management of social scientific research in support of sustainable land use in UK and Europe.
Current and recent programmes
Evaluation and appraisal
- Monitoring and evaluating quality of life for Forestry Commission England
Work includes the design and delivery of a bespoke M&E framework to assess the contribution of England’s tress, woods and forests to quality of life. - WIAT Monitoring and evaluation for Forestry Commission Scotland
Work includes the design and delivery of a M&E framework to assess the social impacts of sites and projects funded under the Woodlands In and Around Towns (WIAT) programme in Scotland. - Sustainability impact assessment tools for multifunctional land use (SENSOR)
Responsibilities include research into sustainability issues, criteria and indicators at local and regional levels. Key output was the development of a ‘Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment’ (FoPIA) as a means of involving regional stakeholders in impact assessments of European policies affecting six land use sectors.
Governance
- Learning from monitoring and evaluation
Responsible for the delivery of a programme of research to assess best practice in M&E, and provide models to ensure the findings of M&E are assimilated within the Forestry Commission and applied in ways that help make the organisation and its partners more responsive, adaptive and sustainable.
Well-being
- Active England evaluation
An evaluation of five woodland projects which aimed to increase physical activity amongst under-represented groups. Responsibilities included research design, management and reporting. - Estimating visitor and visit numbers to woodlands
A review of methods and tools that are used by forest managers and practitioners to estimate visitor, visit and total numbers of visits to woodlands.
Society and diversity
- Wildfires in Wales: social drivers and mitigation measures
Project manager of research project that seeks to increase understanding of the issue of deliberately started wildfires in South Wales. - Growing places: a study of social change in the National Forest
A study to define how a healthier, green and more economically diverse environment can improve the quality of life of local residents and visitors to the National Forest area.
Main recent publications
Morris, J. and O’Brien, E. (2011). Encouraging healthy outdoor activity amongst under-represented groups: An evaluation of the Active England woodland projects. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2011.05.006
Morris, J., O'Brien, E., Ambrose-Oji, B., Lawrence, A., Carter, C., Peace, A. (2011). Access for all? Barriers to accessing woodlands and forests in Britain. Local Environment, 16:4, 375-396. Also in: Woods and Forests in British Society:progress in research and practice (PDF-2066K), Forest Research Monograph.
Helming, K., K. Diehl, T. Kuhlman, T. Jansson, P. H. Verburg, M. Bakker, M. Perez-Soba, L. Jones, P. Johannes Verkerk, P. Tabbush, J. Morris, Z. Drillet, J. Farrington, P. LeMouël, P. Zagame, T. Stuczynski, G. Siebielec, S. Sieber and H. Wiggering. (2011). Ex Ante Impact Assessment of Policies Affecting Land Use, Part B: Application of the Analytical Framework. Ecology and Society 16 (1): 29. URL: www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art29/
Morris, J. B., V. Tassone, R. De Groot, M. Camilleri, and S. Moncada. (2011). A Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment: involving stakeholders in European policy making, a case study of land use change in Malta. Ecology and Society 16(1): 12. URL: www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art12/
Drillet, Z., Kenderessy, P., Morris, J., Izakovicova, Z., Farrington, F. (2010). Stakeholder based sustainability impact assessment of EU bioenenergy policy in the High Tatras, Slovakia. The Problems of Landscape Ecology, Vol 28: 217 – 228.
König, H.J., Schuler, J., Suarma, U., McNeill, D., Imbernon, J., Damayanti, F., Dalimunthe, S., Uthes, S., Sartohadi, J., Helming, K., & Morris, J. (2010). Assessing the Impact of Land Use Policy on Urban-Rural Sustainability Using the FoPIA Approach in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Sustainability 2010, 2(7), 1991-2009.
Mortimer, S., Mauchline, A., Park, J., Finn, J., Edwards, D. & Morris, J. (2010). Evaluation of Agri-Environment and Forestry Schemes with Multiple Objectives. Eurochoices 2010 9(1) , 48-54.
O’Brien, L and Morris, J. (2009). Active England: The Woodland Projects. Report to the Forestry Commission, pp 76.
Edwards, D., Elliott, A., Hislop, M., Martin, S., Morris, J., O’Brien, L., Peace, A., Sarajevs, V., Serrand, M. and Valatin, G. (2009). A Valuation of the Economic and Social Contribution of Forestry for People in Scotland (PDF-2980K). Forestry Commission Research Report 101, Forestry Commission Scotland, Edinburgh, 190 pp.
Edwards, D., Morris, J., O’Brien, L. and Valatin, G. (2008). The Economic and Social Contribution of Forestry for People in Scotland (PDF-404K). Forestry Commission Research Note 102, Forestry Commission Scotland, Edinburgh. 8 pp.
Morris, J., Camilleri, M. and Moncada, S. (2008). Key sustainability issues in European sensitive areas - a participatory approach. In Helming, K., Perez-Soba, M. & Tabbush, P. (eds) Sustainability Impact Assessment of Land Use Changes. Springer: Berlin.
Morris, J. and Urry, J. (2006) Growing places (PDF-1319K). A study of social change in The National Forest. Forest Research, Farnham.
Morris, J., Norton, L., Waterton, C. (2006). Understanding Loweswater: Interdisciplinary Research in Practice. Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 57, No. 2, 2006, 277–293.
Morris, J. (2004). Locals and Professionals: Participatory Approaches to Protected Area Management in Peru and the UK. Lancaster University, unpublished PhD thesis.
Conference proceedings
Morris, J., O’Brien, L., Ambrose-Oji, B., Lawrence, A. and Carter, C. Access for all? Barriers to accessing woodlands and forests in the UK. In Ambrose-Oji, B. and Fancett, K., (Eds.), (2011) Woods and forests in British society: progress in research and practice (PDF-1646K). Forest Research Monograph: 3. Forest Research, Surrey. ISBN 978-0-85538-828-7.
Morris, J. and Tassone, V. (2008). Assessing the sustainability impacts of European policies – stakeholder-based research methods and results. Proceedings of EASY-ECO Vienna Conference 'Governance by Evaluation: Institutional Capacities and Learning for Sustainable Development'. Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration: Vienna.
Morris, J. (2006). Growing Places: Forestry as an Engine for Social Development in The National Forest. Proceedings of IUFRO 3.08 Conference 'Small-scale forestry and rural development: The intersection of ecosystems, economics and society'. Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology: Galway, Ireland.
