|
|
Bio:
Mae Davenport was born in Buhl, deep in the Northwoods of Minnesota. She completed her undergraduate
work in Duluth at the College
of St. Scholastica, obtained her
Master’s degree from the University
of Montana in recreation management,
and received her Ph.D. from the University
of Minnesota in natural
resources science and management. She has been a faculty member at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (SIU) since April 2004.
Research interests:
Currently, Mae Davenport is an assistant professor in the Department of
Forestry at SIU specializing in human dimensions of natural resources. Her
research draws on theories in sociology and social psychology to examine
human-environment connections within natural resource settings. Past projects
she has completed include recreation visitor surveys examining experience
preferences, perceptions of management, and natural resource values in Yellowstone
National Park (Yellowstone NP) and on the Niobrara National Scenic River
(Niobrara NSR). She also has developed visitor use estimation models for the
Niobrara NSR and Voyageurs
National Park. In
pursuit of unanswered research questions, her current research agenda has
shifted somewhat from a quantitative research perspective to a more
naturalistic, qualitative perspective. Both her Master’s thesis and
Ph.D. dissertation used interpretive methodological frameworks—the
former looked at winter visitors’ perceptions of their Yellowstone NP
experience and the latter at the meanings local community members attribute
to the Niobrara NSR.
Most recently Dr. Davenport has embarked on a series of case studies in the United State’s
Midwest region investigating the role of
trust between natural resource management agencies and local communities. As
this research unfolds, the need for 1) assessing trust in local communities,
2) identifying community expectations, 3) prioritizing relationship building,
and 4) examining the effects of institutionalized public involvement
procedures on local communities, has become increasingly apparent. This
project is a cooperative effort of the University of Minnesota’s
Department of Forest Resources and the USDA Forest Service’s North
Central Research Station.
|
