CREDENTIALS

• Ph.D., Anthropology (Emphasis: Ecological/Environmental Anthropology), University of Georgia
• Post-Doc, Geography, Pennsylvania State University
• M,S., Environmental Studies, University of Oregon
• B.S., Biology, Cornell University

Dr. Jen Shaffer joins the faculty of the University of Guam College of Natural & Applied Science as an Extension Agent IV in the Cooperative Extension & Outreach’s Community Development Program during her sabbatical year. She is also an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland College Park in the Department of Anthropology, College of Behavioral & Social Sciences, with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Environmental Science & Technology, College of Agriculture & Natural Resources.

Her research focuses on questions of social-ecological systems complexity from the unique, and often neglected, perspective of the people living within these systems. As an ecological and environmental anthropologist, she investigates the amalgamation of environmental knowledge-practice-beliefs, also known as local, traditional, or indigenous knowledge, that people use to sustain their livelihoods and households in continually changing environments. The interdisciplinary approaches she takes afford opportunities for scientists, community members, and policy makers and implementers to work together, co-producing new knowledge necessary for culturally appropriate and sustainable solutions regarding adaptation to global climate change, food and water security, resource management and governance, and species conservation. She has collaborated with local communities on environmental research in eastern and southern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa), the South Pacific (Fiji, American Samoa), and mainland United States (Oregon, Maryland).