Bethany Cutts
Bethany is an Assistant Professor of Human Dimensions and Geospatial Analytics with the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management and a Faculty Fellow with the Center for Geospatial Analytics. Her overall research goal is to identify science-driven solutions to enhance the social, economic, and ecological well-being of communities. Toward this goal, she aims to take a problem-centered approach to research, often collaborating with urban planners, ecologists, and engineers. Past projects have used a diverse array of social science research methods, including geospatial models, participatory mapping, qualitative GIS, and complex survey design. Future research will build on experiences using geographic information systems together with social network analysis and innovative public participation methods to explore local and regional sustainability solutions in the context of global change. She plans to continue to seek out opportunities to study urban and rural regions in the context of fostering multifunctional landscapes, or regions in which ecosystem services support sustainability at multiple scales. Crucial to her approach is a concern for how to best recognize and ameliorate historical patterns of marginalization associated with race, income, and gender. Geovisualization is critical to this endeavor as it often provides a tool for ‘boundary work’ or negotiation between different ways of knowing.
Roles
Publications
- Local government capacity to respond to environmental change: Insights from towns in New York State (2017)
- Community theories of change: Linking environmental justice to sustainability through stakeholder perceptions in Milwaukee (WI, USA) (2016)