Social Sciences
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Audrey L. MayerAssociate Professor of Ecology and Environmental Policy Ph.D., University of Tennessee, 2000 Department of Social Sciences and School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science Mailing Address: 209 AOB, Social Sciences 1400 Townsend Dr., MTU Houghton MI 49931 Office: 226 Academic Office Building Phone: 906.487.3448
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Audrey has a joint appointment with the Department of Social Sciences and the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science. She is a member of the Environmental Policy Program.
Audrey’s projects fit broadly under the theme of multidisciplinary sustainability research, which means the simultaneous consideration of ecological, sociological, and economic dynamics of managing systems in a sustainable manner.
One project is the development and application of sustainability indices to dynamic socioecological systems. This research includes both temporal and spatial indices, and how well they can be applied to systems at many different scales. She has also developed ecosystem assessment protocols that incorporate human stressor variables.
Another project includes economic incentive policies for the conservation of ecosystem services. These include biodiversity conservation programs for privately owned forests, and economic incentives for stormwater mitigation of impervious surfaces in urban watersheds.
A third project focuses on the ecological impact of international trade of natural resources. One example of this is her work in Finland, addressing the potential impacts on the Finnish forest industry and forest ecosystems from wood trade with Russia and other countries.
Audrey is looking for future graduate students (both M.S. students in Environmental Policy, and M.S. and Ph.D. students in the SFRES programs) to work with her on these and other sustainability-related projects. Please contact her if these areas are of interest to you!
Awards
2011 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award
The Powe Award, given annually by the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) in Tennessee, recognizes junior faculty for their outstanding work in engineering and applied science; life sciences; mathematics and computer science; physical sciences; or policy, management or education.
Currently, Mayer is studying how policies that are aimed at encouraging nonindustrial private forest owners to manage their forests for bioenergy production will change landscapes over time, in particular the potential impacts to biodiversity. The Powe Award supports her research in landscape ecology.