Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems

Hannah Gosnell

Professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
CRARS Faculty Affiliate
Brief Research Interests: 

Transformations to sustainability; biodiversity conservation; regenerative agriculture; environmental governance; water resource policy, management and law; drivers and consequences of rural land use change.

Specialty:

Human dimensions of climate change, biodiversity conservation, sustainability science, conservation social science, rural geography, U.S. West.

Research Interests:

My research focuses on agricultural landscape change, rural sustainability, and land and water conservation from a social-ecological systems perspective. I am especially interested in how laws and institutions evolve to reflect changing geographies and under what conditions they can facilitate transformation in practical, political, and personal spheres. My work reflects a belief that collaborative and interdisciplinary solutions to conservation challenges involving all affected stakeholders are likely to be more durable and equitable than ones that are top-down or purely technical. Most of my projects take place on rural, agricultural, working landscapes involving both public and private lands in the U.S. West, and they all deal with various aspects of environmental governance – the processes of decision-making involved in the control and management of the environment and natural resources.

Education:

B.A. American Civilization, Brown University, 1988
M.A. Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1995
Ph.D. Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2000

Courses:

GEOG 240 - Human Dimensions of Climate Change
GEOG 430/530 - Resilience-Based Natural Resource Management
GEOG 450/550 - Land Use in the American West
GEOG 512 - Social Ecological Systems

Publications:

73. Haggerty, J., K. Epstein, J. Rose, and H. Gosnell. 2021. Rural land concentration and protected areas: Recent trends from Montana and Greater Yellowstone. Society & Natural Resources.

72. Smith, A., K. Epstein, H. Gosnell. 2021. Grazing the Fire – Poetry of Rangeland Science: A Review. Society & Natural Resources. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2021.2018077

71. Gosnell, H., K. Emard, and E.G. Hyde. 2021. Taking stock of social sustainability and the U.S. beef industry. Sustainability 13(21), 11860. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111860

70. Gosnell, H. 2021. Regenerating soil, regenerating soul: An integral approach to understanding agricultural transformation. Sustainability Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00993-0

69. Epstein, K., J. Haggerty, and H. Gosnell. 2021. With, not for, money: Ranch management trajectories of the super-rich in Greater Yellowstone. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2021.1930512

68. Nash, C.S., G.E. Grant, S. Charnley, J. Dunham, H. Gosnell, M.D. Hausner, D.S. Pilliod, J.D. Taylor. 2021. Great expectations: Deconstructing the process pathways underlying beaver-related restoration. BioScience 71(3):249-267. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa165

67. Gosnell, H., S. Charnley, and P. Stanley. 2020. Climate Change mitigation as a co-benefit of regenerative ranching: Insights from Australia and the United States. The Royal Society Interface Focus.

66. Charnley, S., H. Gosnell, R. Davee, J. Abrams. 2020. Ranchers and beavers: Understanding the human dimensions of beaver-related stream restoration on western rangelands. Rangeland Ecology & Management.    

65. Gosnell, H., K. Grimm, and B. Goldstein. 2020. A half century of Holistic Management: What does the evidence reveal? Agriculture and Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10016-w

64. Gosnell, H., R. Kennedy, T. Harris, and J. Abrams. 2019. A land systems science approach to assessing forest governance and characterizing the emergence of social forestry in the Western Cascades of Oregon. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab666b

63. Gosnell, H.., N. Gill, M. Voyer. 2019. Transformational adaptation on the farm: Processes of change and persistence in transitions to “climate-smart” regenerative agriculture. Global Environmental Change.

62. Martin, J.V., K. Epstein, N. Bergmann, A.C. Kroepsch, H. Gosnell, and P. Robbins. 2019. Revisiting and revitalizing political ecology in the American West. Geoforum.

61. Epstein, K., J.H. Haggerty, H. Gosnell. 2019. Super-rich landowners in social-ecological systems: Opportunities in affective and life course perspectives. Geoforum

60. Abrams, J., H. Huber-Stearns, H. Gosnell, S. Duffey, C. Moseley. 2019. Tracking a governance transition: Piloting indicators for ‘Social Forestry’ on national forestlands in the United States. Society & Natural Resources. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2019.1605434; https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2019.1605434

59. Batavia, C., J. Bruskotter, J. Jones, J. Vucetich, H. Gosnell, M. Nelson. 2018. Nature for whom? How type of beneficiary influences the effectiveness of conservation outreach messages. Biological Conservation 228:158-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.10.029

58. Inman, T., H. Gosnell, D. Lach and K. Kornhauser. 2018. Social-ecological change, resilience and adaptive capacity in the McKenzie River Valley, Oregon. Special Issue: The American West after the Timber Wars. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 40:68-89.

57. Dunham, J., P. Angermeier, S. Crausbay, A. Cravens, H. Gosnell, J. McEvoy, M. Moritz, N. Rahee and T. Sanford. 2018. Rivers are social-ecological systems: time to integrate human dimensions into riverscape ecology and management. WIREs Water 2018;e1291. https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1291

56. Arnold, C.A., H. Gosnell, M.H. Benson and R.K. Craig. 2018.. Cross-interdisciplinary insights into adaptive governance and resilience. In: B. Cosens and L. Gunderson (eds.) Practical Panarchy, Linking Law, Resilience and Adaptive Water Governance of Regional Scale Social-Ecological Systems. New York, NY: Springer.&nbsp

55. Gosnell, H. B.C. Chaffin, J.B. Ruhl, C.A. Arnold, R.K. Craig, M.H. Benson, A. Devenish. 2018.. Enhancing compatibility between adaptive governance and the Endangered Species Act. In: B. Cosens and L. Gunderson (eds.) Practical Panarchy, Linking Law, Resilience and Adaptive Water Governance of Regional Scale Social-Ecological Systems. New York, NY: Springer.

54. Craig, R.K., A. Garmestani, H. Birge, and H. Gosnell. 2018. Stability and flexibility in environmental law. In: B. Cosens and L. Gunderson (eds.) Practical Panarchy, Linking Law, Resilience and Adaptive Water Governance of Regional Scale Social-Ecological Systems. New York, NY: Springer.

53. Chaffin, B.C., H. Gosnell and R.K. Craig. 2018. The emergence of adaptive governance in the Klamath Basin. In: B. Cosens and L. Gunderson (eds.) Practical Panarchy, Linking Law, Resilience and Adaptive Water Governance of Regional Scale Social-Ecological Systems. New York, NY: Springer.

52. Gosnell, H., B.C. Chaffin, J.B. Ruhl, C.A. Arnold, R.K. Craig, M.H. Benson, A. Devenish. 2017. Transforming [perceived] rigidity in environmental law through adaptive governance: A case of Endangered Species Act implementation. Ecology and Society 22(4):42. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09887-220442 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss4/art42/

51. Pilliod, D., A.T. Rohde, S. Charnley, R. Davee, J. Dunham, H. Gosnell, G. Grant, M.B. Hausner, J. Huntington and C. Nash. 2017. Survey of beaver-related restoration practices in rangeland streams of the western U.S.A. Environmental Management. DOI 10.1007/s00267-017-0957-6

50. Charnley, S., H. Gosnell, K. Wendel, M. Rowland and M. Wisdom. 2017. Cattle grazing and fish recovery on federal lands in the U.S.A: Can social-ecological system (SES) science help? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

49. Arnold, C.A., H. Gosnell, M.H. Benson and R.K. Craig. 2017. Cross-interdisciplinary insights into adaptive governance and resilience. Ecology and Society 22 (4):14. [online] URL: https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss4/art14/

48. Chaffin, B.C. and H. Gosnell. 2017. Beyond mandatory fishways: Federal hydropower relicensing as a window of opportunity for dam removal and adaptive governance of riverine landscapes in the United States. Water Alternatives 10(3): 819-839.

47. Nielsen-Pincus, M.P., P. Sussman, D.E. Bennett, H. Gosnell, and R. Parker. 2017. The influence of place on the willingness to pay for ecosystem services. Society & Natural Resources. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2017.1347976

46. Gunderson, L. H., B. A. Cosens, B. C. Chaffin, C. A. (Tom) Arnold, A. K. Fremier, A. S. Garmestani, R. Kundis Craig, H. Gosnell, H. E. Birge, C. R. Allen, M. H. Benson, R. R. Morrison, M. C. Stone, J. A. Hamm, K. Nemec, E. Schlager and D. Llewellyn. 2017. Regime shifts and panarchies in regional scale social-ecological water systems. Ecology and Society 22(1):31. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss1/art31/

45. Craig, R. Kundis, A. S. Garmestani, C. R. Allen, C. Anthony (Tony) Arnold, H. Birgé, D. A. DeCaro, A. K. Fremier, H. Gosnell and E. Schlager. 2017. Balancing stability and flexibility in adaptive governance: an analysis of tools available in U.S. environmental law. Ecology and Society 22 (2):3. [online] URL: https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss2/art3/

44. Cosens, B. A., R. K. Craig, S. Hirsch, C. A. Arnold, M. H. Benson, D. A. DeCaro, A. S. Garmestani, H. Gosnell, J. Ruhl and E. Schlager. 2017. The role of law in adaptive governance. Ecology and Society 22 (1):30. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss1/art30/

43. Nelson, M.P., H. Gosnell, D. Warren, C. Batavia, M. Betts, J.I. Burton, E.J. Davis, M. Schulze, C. Segura, C. Friesen, S. Perakis. In press. An integrated social-ecological-ethical approach to enhancing public trust in federal forest management. In B. van Horne and D. Olsen (eds.), Innovations in Forestry to Sustain People and Biodiversity: Lessons from Moist Coniferous Forests of the Pacific Northwest.Washington D.C.: Island Press. 

42. Benson, M.H., H. Gosnell, B. Chaffin, R. Craig, C.R. Allen. In review. A response to critics of resilience theory. Ecology & Society.

41. Charnley, S., H. Gosnell, K. Wendel, M. Rowland, M. Wisdom. In review. Cattle, fish, and wolves: Enhancing compatibility of grazing and protected species management in the Blue Mountains social-ecological system. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment(special issue on social-ecological systems research)

40. Craig, R., A.S. Garmestani, C.R. Allen,C.A. Arnold,H. Birgé,D. DeCaro,A.K. Fremier,H. Gosnell,E. Schlager. In review (revise and resubmit). Balancing stability and flexibility in adaptive governance: The new challenges and a review of tools available. Ecology & Society.  

39. Cosens, B., R.K. Craig, S. Hirsch, C. Allen, A. Arnold, M.H. Benson, B.C. Chaffin, D. DeCaro, A. Fremier, A. Garmestani, O.O. Green, H. Gosnell, L. Gunderson, K. Ogren, J.B.Ruhl, E. Schlager, M. Stone. In review (revise and resubmit). The role of law in the emergence of adaptive governance. Ecology & Society.

38. Goralnik, L., M.P. Nelson, H. Gosnell. In press. Arts and humanities inquiry in the Long Term Ecological Research network: Values, challenges, and the potential for empathy. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.

37. Bennett, D.E. and H. Gosnell. In review. Beyond commodification of nature: A framework for analyzing enabling conditions for the emergence of payments for ecosystem services programs. Society and Natural Resources.

36. Chaffin, B., A. Garmestani, H. Gosnell, R.K. Craig. In review. Institutional social network analysis as a tool for analyzing transitions towards adaptive governance: the case of the Klamath River Basin Agreements, USA. Environmental Science and Policy.

35.Nielsen-Pincus, M.P., H. Gosnell, and D.E. Bennett. In review. Payments for watershed services in the McKenzie River Valley and sense of place. Environmental Management.

34. Bennett, D.E. and H. Gosnell. 2015. A social-ecological systems perspective on payments for ecosystem services. Ecological Economics 116:172-181.

33. Chaffin, B.C. and H. Gosnell. 2015. Measuring success in adaptive management projects. In: C. Allen and A. Garmestani (eds.), Adaptive Management of Social Ecological Systems. New York, NY: Springer.

32. Goralnik, L., M.P. Nelson, L. Ryan and H. Gosnell. 2015. Arts and humanities efforts in the US Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network: Understanding perceived values and challenges. In R. Rozzi, S.T.A. Pickett, J.B. Callicott, F.S. Chapin, M.E. Power and J.J. Armesto (eds.), Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice. New York, NY: Springer.

31. Chaffin, B.C., R.K. Craig and H. Gosnell. 2014. Resilience, adaptation, and transformation in the Klamath River Basin social ecological system. University of Idaho Law Review 51: 157-.

30. Nabhan, G., L. Lopez-Hoffman, H. Gosnell, J. Goldstein, R. Knight, C. Presnall, L. Gwin, D. Thilmany and S. Charnley. In press. Payments for ecosystem services: Keeping working landscapes productive and functioning. In S. Charnley and T. Sheridan (eds.), Stitching the West Back Together. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

29. Kelly, E. J. Bliss, and H. Gosnell. 2013. The Mazama returns: The politics and possibilities of tribal land reacquisition. Journal of Political Ecology 20: 429-443.

28. Smedstad, J. A. and H. Gosnell. 2013. Do adaptive co-management processes lead to adaptive co-management outcomes? A multi-case study of long-term outcomes associated with the National Riparian Service Team's place-based riparian assistance. Ecology & Society 18 (4):8.

27. Abrams, J., H. Gosnell, N. Gill and P. Klepeis. 2012. Re-creating the rural, reconstructing nature: An international literature review of the environmental implications of amenity migration. Conservation and Society 10(3): 270-284.

26. Abrams, J., and H. Gosnell. 2012. The politics of marginality in Wallowa County, Oregon: Contesting the production of landscapes of consumption. Journal of Rural Studies 28(1): 30-37.

25. Gosnell H., N. Robinson Maness and S. Charnley. 2011. Engaging ranchers in market-based approaches to climate change mitigation: Opportunities, challenges, and policy implications. Rangelands 64(6): 20-24.

24. Gosnell, H., N. Robinson Maness and S. Charnley. 2011. Profiting from the sale of carbon offsets: A case study of the Trigg Ranch. Rangelands 64(6): 25-29.

23. Santelmann, M., H. Gosnell, and M. Meyers. 2011. Connecting children to the land: Place-based education in the Muddy Creek Watershed, Oregon. Journal of Geography 110(3): 91-106.

22. Fleishman, E., D.E. Blockstein, J.A. Hall, M.B. Mascia, M.A. Rudd, J.M. Scott, W.J. Sutherland, T. Baldwin, A. Bartuska, A.G. Brown, C.A. Christen, J. Clement, M.G. Collins, C.D. Duke, M. Eaton, B. Eichbaum, S.J. Fiske, H. Gosnell, M. Klein, J. Marqusee, B.R. Noon, J. Nordgren, P. Orbuch, J. Powell, K. Saterson, C. Savitt, B. Stein, M.S. Webster, A. Vedder. 2011. America's Top 40 priorities of policymakers for conservative science. Bioscience 61: 290-300.

21. Mendham, E., H. Gosnell, and A. Curtis. 2010. Agricultural land ownership change and natural resource management: Comparing Australian and U.S. case studies. In G. Luck, D. Race, R. Black (Eds.), Demographic Change in Australia's Rural Landscapes. New York: Springer, 388 pp.

20. Charnley, S., D. Diaz, and H. Gosnell. 2010. Mitigating climate change through small-scale forestry in the USA: Opportunities and challenges. Small-Scale Forestry 9(4): 445-462.

19. Gosnell, H., J. Kline, J. Duncan, and G. Chrostek. 2010. Is Oregon's land use planning program conserving forest and farm land? A systematic review of the evidence. Land Use Policy 28(1): 185-192. DOI 10.1016/j.landusepol.2010.05.012.

18. Gosnell, H., and J. Abrams, 2010. Amenity migration: Diverse conceptualizations of drivers, socioeconomic dimensions, and emerging challenges. GeoJournal DOI 10.1007/s10708-009-9295-4.

17. Gosnell, H. and E. Kelly. 2010. Peace on the river? Social-ecological restoration and large dam removal in the Klamath Basin, USA. Water Alternatives 3(2): 362-383.

16. Gosnell, H. and D. Shinneman. 2010. The human landscape. In R.P. Reading, B. Miller, A.L. Masching, R. Edward, and M.K. Phillips (eds.), Awakening Spirits: Wolves in the Southern Rockies. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, pp. 79‐100.

15. Miller, B., R.P. Reading, and H. Gosnell. 2010. Public attitudes toward wolves and wolf recovery. In R.P. Reading, B. Miller, A.L. Masching, R. Edward, and M.K. Phillips (eds.), Awakening Spirits: Wolves in the Southern Rockies. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, pp. 103‐117.

14. Robbins, P., K. Meehan, H. Gosnell, and S. Gilbertz. 2009. Writing the New West: A Critical Review. Rural Sociology 74(3): 356-382.

13. Diaz, D., S. Charnley, and H. Gosnell. 2009. Engaging western landowners in climate change mitigation: a guide to carbon-oriented forest and range management and carbon market opportunities. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-801. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 81 pp.

12. Gosnell, H. 2009. Healing with Howls: Rewilding the Southern Rockies. In: P.N. Limerick, A. Cowell, and S.K. Collinge (eds.), Remedies for a New West: Healing Landscapes, Histories, and Cultures. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, pp. 134-152.

11. Gosnell, H. and G. Chrostek. 2008. Goal 3: Agricultural Lands. In The Oregon Land Use Program: An Assessment of Selected Goals. Institute for Natural Resources, Report to Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, pp. 34‐55.

10. Gosnell, H. 2008. Revolution on the Range: The Rise of the New Ranch in the American West. (Book Review). Rangelands 30(5): 44.

9. Gosnell, H., J.H. Haggerty, and P. Byorth. 2007. Ranch ownership change and new approaches to water resources management in Southwestern Montana: Implications for fisheries. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 43(4): 990-1003.

8. Gosnell, H., J.H. Haggerty and W.R. Travis. 2006. Ranchland ownership change in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, 1990-2001: Implications for conservation. Society and Natural Resources 19(8): 743-758.

7. Gosnell, H., G. Preston, W. Travis. 2006. Socioeconomics: Impacts and Adaptation. In: J. Katzenberger (ed.), Climate Change and the City of Aspen: As Assessment of Impacts and Potential Responses. Aspen, CO: Aspen Global Change Institute, pp. 57-81.

6. Gosnell, H. and W.R. Travis. 2005. Ranchland ownership dynamics in the Rocky Mountain West. Rangeland Ecology and Management 58:191-198.

5. Shinneman, D. and H. Gosnell. 2003. The human landscape. In B. Miller, et al. (eds.), Southern Rockies Wildlands Network Vision. Golden, CO: Colorado Mountain Club Press.

4. Gosnell, H. 2001. Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act and the art of compromise: The evolution of a Reasonable and Prudent Alternative for the Animas-La Plata Project. Natural Resources Journal 41(3): 561-626.

3. Gosnell H. 1997. Water for the New West. In W.E. Riebsame, H. Gosnell, D.M. Theobald (eds.), Atlas of the New West: Portrait of a Changing Region. New York: W.W. Norton, pp. 80-93.

2. Riebsame, W.E., H. Gosnell, and D.M. Theobald. 1996. Land use and landscape change in the Colorado mountains I: Theory, scale, and pattern. Mountain Research and Development 16(4): 395-405.

1. Theobald, D.M., H. Gosnell, and W.E. Riebsame. 1996. Land use and landscape change in the Colorado mountains II: A case study of the East River Valley. Mountain Research and Development 16(4): 407-418.

Portrait of Hannah Gosnell