Ph.D., MRP, BS    University of Michigan      

B.A.                   Kalamazoo College                             

Academic Areas of Interest:

Organizational, political, and environmental sociology; Non-government organizations; International organizations; Environment and development in developing countries; Biodiversity conservation; Public opinion; Public policy; Survey research methods

Selected Professional Activities:

Editorial Board, Social Science Quarterly

Editorial Board, International Journal of Biodiversity Science & Management

Editorial Board, Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy

Editorial Board, Conservation Biology

Member, World Commission on Parks and Protected Areas, World Conservation Union, IUCN

Member, World Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), World Conservation Union, IUCN

Current Research:

Current research activities include the organizational development and outcomes of large NGOs; social responsibilities of NGOs; exploration of the notion of civil society and its boundaries and requirements; exploring the theory of the "Hollow State": NGO-government partnerships in a developing country context; social requirements and consequences of biodiversity conservation/nature protection; sociology of climate change; comparative public attitudes and values on the environment.

Recent Activities:

Hosted and co-organized: 2007 Maxwell Workshop on Organizations and the Natural Environment - Topic on Organizational Networks and the Natural Environment.  Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.  May 22-24.  Working on an edited book from the conference: Organized Nature.

2005 Research Fellow, Wildlife Conservation Society and with the Society's funding recently completed (with field team) the first nation-wide study (including Mayan communities) of rancher/ farmer-jaguar conflicts in Belize, Central America.

Recent and Selected Publications

Brechin, S.R. 2008. "Ostriches and Change: A Response to Global Warming and
           Sociology" Current Sociology: 56 (3).

Brechin, S.R. Forthcoming 2008. "Corporate Contributions to Transnational
          Conservation NGOs: Private International Transfers or

            Transactions?" Forum: International Studies Review.

Brechin, S.R., G. Murray, and K.A. Mogulgaard. Forthcoming 2008. "Conceptual
          and Practical Issues in Defining Conservation

          Success: The Political, Social, and Ecological in an Organized World."           Journal of Sustainable Forestry 

Brechin, S.R., G. Murray, C. Benjamin. 2007. "Chapter 37: Contested ground in
          nature protection: current challenges and

          opportunities in community-based natural resourced and protected
          area management." In Jules Pretty et al. (editors) Handbook of
          Environment and Society. CA: Sage Publications.

Brechin, S.R. and D. Freeman. 2004. “Public Support for both the Environment
          and an Anti-Environmental President: Possible
          Explanations for the George W. Bush Anomaly.  The Forum: A Journal of
          Applied Research in Contemporary Politics.  Vol. 2, 1 (6).  

Brechin, S.R. 2003.  “Comparative  Public Opinion and Knowledge on Global
          Climatic Change and the Kyoto Protocol: The U.S. versus the World?,
          International Journal of  Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 23, No. 10 .

Brechin, S.R., P.Wilshusen, C. Fortwangler, and P.C.West (editors). 2003.
          Contested Nature: Promoting International Biodiversity With Social
          Justice in the Twenty-First Century. SUNY Press. 

Brechin, S. R. 1997. Planting Trees in the Developing World: A Sociology of
          International Organizations.  Johns Hopkins University Press.

Ness, G.D., W.D. Drake & S.R. Brechin (editors).1993. Population ‑ Environment
          Dynamics: Ideas & Observations, University of Michigan Press.

West, P.C., and S.R. Brechin, (editors).1991. Resident Peoples and National
          Parks:  Social Dilemmas and Strategies in International Conservation.
          Tucson: University of Arizona Press.