According to the Institute on the Environment (IonE), Associates are “early-career researchers who are developing engaged and interdisciplinary careers in environmental scholarship”, and show great potential to become “internationally recognized for their environmental and sustainability research.”
The two-year fellowship program will provide Dr. Bergstrom, Department of Geography, Urban, Environment, and Sustainability Studies, and his cohorts with opportunities to attend media and stakeholder engagement workshops, develop project management and strategic thinking strategies, interact with environmental leaders across government and non-government sectors, and receive formal mentorship from IonE Fellows to help navigate a successful career as an interdisciplinary environmental scholar.
Dr. Bergstrom's research involves the complexity of coupled social-ecological systems and the human dimensions of global change, specifically as they relate to rural areas, agriculture, natural resource extraction, and recreation and tourism. Recent research for Dr. Bergstrom has focused on amenity-driven communities in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and how local and regional decision making facilitates (or hinders) a transition toward sustainability.
In addition, he is undertaking research on Minnesota’s Iron Range to determine how resource-dependent communities perceive, prioritize, and act upon issues of sustainable natural resource management and community development in the face of proposed precious metal mining. His most recent publication examines how locally led, grass-roots efforts re-envisioned Minnesota’s Cuyuna Iron Range as a world-class mountain bike destination, and in the process revitalized local communities and sustained the natural environment.
Additional UMD faculty honored as Associates include Aparna Katre, World Languages and Cultures, Salli Dymond, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Neil Wilmont, Economics.