Donald R. Nelson
Assistant Professor
PhD, Anthropology, University of Arizona, 2005
dnelson@uga.edu
Research and Teaching Interests
|
I didn’t always plan to be an anthropologist. However, during an undergrad anthropology course I realized that the field of anthropology would provide an excellent arena to pursue my innate curiosity about the diversity of people and their interactions with each other and their environments. My goal as an anthropologist is to pursue research that is intellectually challenging and that enhances our abilities to resolve complex social and environmental issues. My intellectual interests span scales that include individual households, communities, watersheds, regions, and nations. I also am an ardent believer in an interdisciplinary approach to framing and exploring research questions.
In my professional life I have worked extensively in Latin America, particularly in Northeast Brazil and the Brazilian Amazon. I have also been involved with work in Mozambique, The Comoros, Indonesia, and the Caribbean. I use a range of participatory methodologies as well as quantitative tools in my research.
Current research activities
I am currently involved in several projects in Brazil. Projeto MAPLAN (see project link), a pilot project in Ceará, Brazil, is a joint effort of the public sector and civil society designed to create a process of participatory development planning integrating local level contextual variations. Partners include the State Government of Ceará –the Secretariats of Planning and of Cities, FUNCEME (the state meteorological service) – and the Federal University of Ceará. The methodology is based on a Participatory GIS and integrates local communities with state level planning.
I also participate in a project that explores the role of scientific knowledge in building the adaptive capacity of water management committees to respond to climate variability and change. This project is led by researchers at the University of Michigan and has partners at the State University of Rio de Janeiro. We are exploring the ongoing decentralization in Brazil’s water management sector and analyzing how scientific information interacts with the ideals of participation and democracy.
I am also involved in ongoing research that looks at the vulnerability of rural families to climate variability in Northeast Brazil. This work is led by Duke University with partners at IRI and FUNCEME. This project explores the past impacts of drought events on households and analyzes coping and adaptation strategies. An integrated component is focused on the communication of climate forecast information to farming households. This component seeks to bridge communication between scientific forecasters and the farmers to find common languages and needs and to offer decision support for agricultural decision making.
Recent Publications
Hulme, M, Dessai S, Lorenzoni I, Nelson DR. (2008) “Unstable Climates: exploring the statistical and social constructions of climate." Geoforum. LINK
Adger WA, Dessai S, Goulden M, Hulme M, Lorenzoni I, Nelson DR, Naess LO, Wolf J, Wreford A. (2008) “Are there social limits to adaptation to climate change?” Climatic Change. LINK
Nelson DR, Adger WA and Brown K. (2007) “Adaptation to Environmental Change: Contributions of a Resilience Framework.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 32(11): 395-419. LINK
Folhes MT, and Nelson DR. (2007) “Traditional weather and climate forecasts in Ceará: Local knowledge working for science.” Revista Sociedade & Natureza 19:37. In Portuguese LINK
Mello Lemos MC, Finan TJ, Fox R, Nelson DR, and Tucker J. (2002) “The use of seasonal climate forecasting in policymaking: lessons from Northeast Brazil." Climatic Change (55)4: 479-507. LINK
Brondizio ES, McCracken SJ, Moran EF, Nelson DR. (2002) “The Colonist Footprint: Towards a conceptual framework of land use and deforestation trajectories among small farmers in Frontier Amazonia,” in Charles Wood and Roberto Porro (eds.) Deforestation and Land Use in the Amazon. University Press of Florida.
Finan TJ and Nelson DR. (2001) “Making rain, making roads, making do: public and private responses to drought in Ceará, Brazil." Climate Research 19(2): 97-108. LINK
McCracken SD, Brondizio ES, Nelson DR, Moran EF, Siqueira AD, Rodriguez-Pedraza C. (1999) “Remote sensing and GIS at farm property level: Demography and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon," Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing. 65: (11) 1311-1320. LINK
In press
Nelson DR, Folhes MT, and Finan TJ. (2009 ) “Mapping the road to development: a methodology for inclusion and scaling-up of participation in policy processes” Development in Practice.
Nelson DR. (2009) “Transforming the world," In Adapting to Climate Change: Limits, Thresholds and Governance. WN Adger, K O’Brien, I Lorenzoni (eds.) Cambridge University Press.
Finan TJ, Nelson DR. (2009) “Decentralized Planning and Adaptation to Drought in Rural Northeast Brazil: An Application of GIS and Participatory Appraisal toward Transparent Governance," In Adapting to Climate Change: Limits, Thresholds and Governance. WN Adger, K O’Brien, I Lorenzoni (eds.) Cambridge University Press.
Tomkins E, Eakin H, Nelson DR, Anderies JM. (2009) “Hidden costs and disparate uncertainties: Trade-offs involved in Approaches to Climate Policy," In Adapting to Climate Change: Limits, Thresholds and Governance.WN Adger, K O’Brien, I Lorenzoni (eds.) Cambridge University Press.
Nelson DR, and Finan TJ, (2009) “Weak Rains: Dynamic Decision Making in the Face of Extended Drought in Ceará, Brazil," In The Political Economy of Hazards and Disasters. EC Jones and AD Murphy (eds.), Altamira Press: Walnut Grove, CA.
Adger WN, and Nelson DR (2009) Fair decision making in a new climate of risk. In O’Brien, K and St. Clair, A (eds.) Shifting the Discourse: Climate Change as an Issue of Human Security. Oxford University Press: Oxford
