Newswise — “The people part of science” engages Kathy Halvorsen, professor of natural resource policy, who has a dual appointment in social sciences and forestry at Michigan Technological University. One focus of her research: biofuels, with an emphasis on understanding the human dimension of environmental problems and solutions. She asserts: “You cannot solve a biological problem with just biology; a natural science problem with just science; an engineering problem with just engineering. People cause social problems; people are affected by them; people care about them, and people fix them.”
Accordingly, she is interviewing professionals in energy, forestry, agriculture, and the environment who will formulate policy; forest and agricultural landowners who will play a key role in the production of feedstock for biofuels; and the general public to assess their understanding of the issues. “How the American public perceives a problem affects their support of policy," Halvorsen points out.
Her membership on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Economic and Environmental Impacts of Increasing Biofuels Development has led her endeavor to understand bioenergy, its role in helping mitigate climate change and the tradeoffs associated with its development.
Her other primary research focus is understanding human relationships to water resources in the US and Mexico.
Halvorsen can be reached at 906-487-2824 or at [email protected]
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