Professor, Director of the Community and Natural Resources Institute
Utah State University
Bio:
Dr. Jessica Schad is a Professor in the Sociology Program, Director of the Community and Natural Resources Institute, and an Extension Specialist. As a rural community and natural resources sociologist, her community-engaged and applied research focuses on the dynamic relationships between extractive and non-extractive natural resource dependency and rural people and places with the goal of promoting resiliency and wellbeing. Notably, Dr. Schad started the Utah People & Environment Poll (UPEP) to track Utahns' perceptions on environmental issues of importance to the state longitudinally. Dr. Schad has published 60 peer-reviewed journal articles, four book chapters, nine extension publications, and 20 policy/research briefs and has been on research teams securing extramural grants totaling nearly $21 million. Overall, this work has provided a better empirical and comparative understanding of rural residents’ perspectives on community and environmental issues in diverse rural places across the United States and within Utah. Graduate and/or undergraduate students always work closely with Dr. Schad on her research projects. Reflecting both the breadth and depth of her expertise on rural places, she was recently selected to lead the Rural Communities Chapter of the Sixth National Climate Assessment, the U.S. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses.
Panel: Preservation and Protection in Perpetuity: People’s Perceptions and Participation
Abstract: Social scientists are well suited to investigate and analyze people’s perceptions and participation regarding Great Salt Lake and how Utah is doing with preserving and protecting it in perpetuity. This panel will present audience members with key insights from research being conducted by members of the recently formed Great Salt Lake Social Science Network (GSL SSN), who are investigating a variety of societal issues related to Great Salt Lake, many focusing on the drying of the lake. The network includes social science researchers from many of Utah’s universities, as well as other states. They have been conducting GSL-related research focused on the larger Utah population, as well as specific groups, and different types of communities, employing a variety of research methods including surveys, focus groups, individual interviews, policy analyses, content analyses of public documents, photovoice, and longitudinal studies.
Each panelist will provide what they consider the most important insight from their work. Issues that members of the network are researching broadly include:
- how various segments of the Utah population perceive and experience environmental risk related to Great Salt Lake’s desiccation, and their responses, including migration and displacement, effects on investment strategies, and other forms of adaptation;
- analysis of public discourse, politics, and management issues related to efforts to save and preserve the GSL; and,
- Utahns’ support for a wide range of policies and strategies related to GSL, including those addressing the drivers and consequences of lake desiccation and those focused on protecting people as well as other species and nature more generally.
