Richard C Stedman
Biographic Data
| ID | 278672 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Richard C Stedman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Richard C |
| FAMILY NAME | Stedman |
| SIGNATURE | STEDMAN R C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cornell University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8115-6696 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 106 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1158 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 106 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 18 |
Rethinking multidimensionality in quality of life and well-being: An exploratory scoping review of operationalization across the social sciences
Bridging senses of place and mobilities scholarships to inform social-ecological systems governance: A research agenda
Uncertainty and change are increasingly commonplace as communities respond to impacts of social-ecological change including climate change, and dangerous levels of pollution. Given the extent of these crises, new approaches are needed to support responses. Here we identify challenges and discuss insights that the nexus of Senses of place (SoP) and mobilities research offers in navigating such uncertainty. We conducted a two-round Delphi, followed…
Trends in human dimensions of wildlife at Cornell University: 50 Years and Counting
The human dimensions of wildlife (HDW) program at Cornell University has contributed to the development of the HDW field for approximately 50 years. In this essay, faculty and staff of the Cornell Center for Conservation Social Sciences (formerly known as Human Dimensions Research Unit) reflect on how their HDW work has evolved, primarily describing their experience in terms of two trends: broadening perspectives about who are stakeholders requir…
Using Personal Norms to Understand Deer Hunters’ Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Prevention Behaviors: The “Right” Thing to Do
To protect wild deer populations (and their beneficiaries) from the negative consequences of chronic wasting disease (CWD), it is crucial to engage deer hunters in disease prevention. Early qualitative findings suggest CWD-relevant behaviors evoke moral or ethical considerations in deer hunters which may help to explain behaviors. The present study applies norm-activation theory (NAT) to explore the relationship between personal norms and CWD-pre…
Developing a system model for articulating the social-ecological impacts of species reintroduction
Reintroducing locally extinct/extirpated species has been considered as an approach for restoring ecosystems. Although such projects share the same goals of rebuilding previously affected ecosystems, the overall impacts that such reintroductions generate on both ecosystems and human society, i.e., on the social-ecological system, are difficult to measure. We propose a system dynamics approach, a platform on which both natural and social scientist…
Ecological and anthropogenic drivers of leopard ( Panthera pardus fusca ) attack occurrence on humans in Nepal
The negative impact of large carnivore presence in human‐dominated landscapes manifests as livestock depredation and in extreme cases as attacks on humans. In the case of conflict with leopards in Nepal, attacks resulting in human fatality have become more frequent over time, thus creating an urgent socio‐ecological and management issue. We estimated the occurrence of leopard attacks in Nepal from human‐leopard conflict cases reported in the medi…
Social-psychological factors influencing risk perceptions of chronic wasting disease on social media
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion-based disease that poses an imminent threat to New York State (NYS), but many NYS hunters do not perceive it as a salient issue or follow recommended practices to prevent its spread to NYS. This study sought to identify the social-psychological factors underlying the efficacy of social media interventions to increase risk perceptions of CWD in NYS. We conducted an online survey experiment with 2760 NYS hun…
Understanding hunter support for early successional habitat management
Early successional habitat (ESH), which is important to many game species, is declining throughout the Northeast United States. In New York State, management agencies are increasing efforts to manage for ESH, but such efforts require support from key stakeholders. We sought to understand the factors influencing such support among hunting license holders, and a subsample specializing in woodcock hunting, who use Wildlife Management Areas. Using st…
The role of nature-based solutions and senses of place in enabling just city transitions
Discussions about just transitions and nature-based solutions (NBS) often articulate an essentialist sense of place perspective that emphasises stasis through combinations of belonging, rootedness, continuity, attachment and connections among sites, scales and subjectivities. In response, we demonstrate how a progressive understanding of “senses” of place that embraces fluid place meanings accessible at different temporal and spatial scales enabl…
Climate resilience and risks of rigidity traps in Iceland’s fisheries
Reacting to the Rural Burden: Understanding Opposition to Utility-Scale Solar Development in Upstate New York☆
Rural landscapes are under increasing development pressure from utility-scale solar (USS) energy facilities while public attitudes toward these facilities remain poorly documented and understood. This study explores whether opposition to USS in upstate New York is shaped at least in part by perceived rural burden-the idea that rural people and places are unfairly expected to provide new renewable energy in response to urban demand. We explore the…
Comparison of perceptions regarding the reintroduction of river otters and oriental storks in Japan
While reintroducing extirpated species is an important approach for restoring self-regulating biodiverse ecosystems, previous studies have shown that public support and understanding are indispensable for the success of such projects. In this study, the attitudes of university students toward species that have already been reintroduced in Japan (oriental storks) and those that have not yet been reintroduced (river otters) were compared. A questio…
Unfulfilled promise: Social acceptance of the smart grid
Smart grids use digital information technology to simultaneously increase energy efficiency while integrating renewables into the electric grid, making it a critical component of achieving a low-carbon energy system. Prior research on the social acceptance of smart grids has relied on either single time point assessment (i.e. prior to a smart grid rollout) or experimental and lab settings. These approaches miss key aspects of social acceptance be…
Are big and small solar separate things: The importance of scale in public support for solar energy development in upstate New York
Protecting place, protecting nature: Predicting place-protective behaviors among nature preserve visitors
Incorporating biodiversity in municipal land-use planning: An assessment of technical assistance, policy capacity, and conservation outcomes in New York’s Hudson Valley
Place-based Identity and Framing in Local Environmental Politics
Framing has long been a central construct in scholarship on the role of rhetoric and discourse in the policy process. Research on policy framing and identity thus far has neglected the role of place-based identity, focusing instead on identity constructs such as race, class, gender, and ethnicity. Through a mixed methods analysis of transcripts of City Council meetings in Philadelphia from 2007 to 2017, we analyze how policy makers, local interes…
Preserving ones meaningful place or not? Understanding environmental stewardship behaviour in river landscapes
Learning from hunter education volunteers’ experiences
Hunter education (HE) is offered in all 50 states, with oversight provided by state wildlife agencies (SWAs). The vast majority of HE courses are taught by volunteers. Recruiting and retaining volunteers to meet the demand for HE courses are growing concerns among SWAs. Insufficient information exists about volunteer instructors’ motivations, experiences, and satisfactions – all of which may affect recruitment and retention. Using the volunteer p…
Grand theft hydrocarbon? Post-production clauses and inequity in the US. shale gas industry
Between fixities and flows: Navigating place attachments in an increasingly mobile world
This paper develops a theoretical argument for how place attachments are forged and become dynamically linked to increasingly common mobility practices. First, we argue that mobilities, rather than negating the importance of place, shift our understanding of place and the habitual ways we relate to and bond with places as distinct from a conception of place attachment premised on fixity and stability. Second, we document how the body of research …
Rethinking resilience to wildfire
Record-breaking fire seasons are becoming increasingly common worldwide, and large wildfires are having extraordinary impacts on people and property, despite years of investments to support social–ecological resilience to wildfires. This has prompted new calls for land management and policy reforms as current land and fire management approaches have been unable to effectively respond to the rapid changes in climate and development patterns that s…
Place meanings on the urban waterfront: A typology of stewardships
Sense of place in social–ecological systems: From theory to empirics
The End of the (Research) World As We Know It? Understanding and Coping With Declining Response Rates to Mail Surveys
Mail surveys have long been a staple of social science research. Properly conducted, they can gather representative data about a population that provides important generalizations about that population. High response rates are one crucial element of this capacity to make such generalizations. Response rates to mail surveys–especially those targeting general populations–have declined substantially over the years, even when employing standard “best…
Is It Really Just a Social Construction: The Contribution of the Physical Environment to Sense of Place
Although sense of place definitions nominally include the physical environment, much research has emphasized the social construction of sense of place and neglect the potentially important contributions of the physical environment to place meanings and attachment. This article presents research that tests several models that integrate (1) characteristics of the environment, (2) human uses of the environment, (3) constructed meanings, and (4) plac…
Understanding the multi-dimensional structure of pro-environmental behavior
Environmental Concern: Examining the Role of Place Meaning and Place Attachment
As landscapes change, it is important to understand how attachments and meanings attributed to place may affect environmental quality and social well-being. To understand and apply sociological insights to policy and management efforts it is not sufficient to simply demonstrate that individuals or groups have strong emotional connections with a particular geographical locale. Rather, it is imperative to understand the implications of attachments,…
A Picture and 1000 Words: Using Resident-Employed Photography to Understand Attachment to High Amenity Places
Research on attachment to high amenity places has usually focused on visitors, despite the fact that many of these settings also may hold permanent residents. Visitor employed photography (VEP) has been used to understand landscape elements that increase the quality of the recreational experience. Our research applies the techniques of VEP to analyze local elements that foster place attachment among permanent residents of high amenity areas. We p…
Sense of place in environmental education
Although environmental education research has embraced the idea of sense of place, it has rarely taken into account environmental psychology-based sense of place literature whose theory and empirical studies can enhance related studies in the education context. This article contributes to research on sense of place in environmental education from an environmental psychology perspective. We review the components of sense of place, including place …
Perceived Impacts from Wind Farm and Natural Gas Development in Northern Pennsylvania
This study examines the environmental, social, and economic impacts that landowners perceive from the simultaneous development of an industrial-scale wind farm and extensive natural gas drilling in an area of northern Pennsylvania. A mail survey (N = 1,028) reveals that the types of perceived impact from wind and natural gas are similar overall, although the perceived magnitude of positive and negative impacts is greater from natural gas drilling…
Resource Dependence and Community Well-Being in Rural Canada
The well-being of residents of resource dependent communities is a question of traditional interest to rural sociologists. The label 'resource dependent' obscures how this relationship may vary between particular resource industries, regions, or indicators of well-being. Few analyses have compared the relationship between well-being and resource dependence across different industries, nor tested competing theories about the relationship between r…
The End of the (Research) World As We Know It? Understanding and Coping With Declining Response Rates to Mail Surveys
Mail surveys have long been a staple of social science research. Properly conducted, they can gather representative data about a population that provides important generalizations about that population. High response rates are one crucial element of this capacity to make such generalizations. Response rates to mail surveys–especially those targeting general populations–have declined substantially over the years, even when employing standard “best…
Understanding Place Attachment Among Second Home Owners
Many high amenity rural communities are growing rapidly and have high rates of seasonal residence, with concomitant "impacts" on longer term permanent residents. The de facto stance that seasonal residents are "outsiders" marginalizes their experience and treats as givens questions that should remain open to empirical scrutiny. This article compares seasonal and year-round resident attachment to such a landscape. Counter to popular assumptions, s…
Reacting to the Rural Burden: Understanding Opposition to Utility-Scale Solar Development in Upstate New York☆
Rural landscapes are under increasing development pressure from utility-scale solar (USS) energy facilities while public attitudes toward these facilities remain poorly documented and understood. This study explores whether opposition to USS in upstate New York is shaped at least in part by perceived rural burden-the idea that rural people and places are unfairly expected to provide new renewable energy in response to urban demand. We explore the…
Subjectivity and social-ecological systems: A rigidity trap (and sense of place as a way out)
Hunting and Rural Socialization: Contingent Effects of the Rural Setting on Hunting Participation
This paper examines the relationship between rural socialization and hunting participation. Assessments of the cultural significance of hunting as a 'way of life' in rural areas echo traditional assertions of the importance of rurality, but do not consider the interplay between rural residence and other variables that affect hunting participation. Although previous research has demonstrated that rural residents are more likely to participate in h…
Elucidating the changing roles of civil society in urban sustainability transitions
A New York or Pennsylvania state of mind: Social representations in newspaper coverage of gas development in the Marcellus Shale
A drill by any other name: Social representations, framing, and legacies of natural resource extraction in the fracking industry
Understanding Local Environmental Concern: The Importance of Place
Urban-rural differences in environmental concern are the primary way that place has been conceptualized within the social bases of environmental concern framework, yet there has been little convergence in empirical findings to support such differences. We assess the influence of place of permanent residence and other sociodemographic measures of the social bases of environmental concern approach alongside two social-psychological constructs: plac…
Sense of place and experimentation in urban sustainability transitions: The Resilience Lab in Carnisse, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Experimentation as a means of governance for sustainability transitions has been advocated for years by transition scholars and geography scholars. We propose that examining the impact of experimentation requires an understanding of its embeddedness in place as a socio-spatial context. This notion of embeddedness, which conceptually aligns well with the understanding of sense of place, is under-examined in sustainability transitions literature. B…
Comparing the relationship between knowledge and support for hydraulic fracturing between residents of the United States and the United Kingdom
What's the ‘fracking’ problem? One word can’t say it all
Snapshots of What Matters Most: Using Resident-Employed Photography to Articulate Attachment to Place
Sense-of-place research has grown in recent years and has attracted interest from a diverse range of disciplines. Beckley (2003 Beckley , T. M. 2003 . The relative importance of sociocultural and ecological factors in attachment to place . In Understanding community-forest relations , ed. L. Kruger , 105 – 126 . USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-566 . Portland , OR : Pacific Northwest Research Station . [Google Scholar]) sugges…
Moving towards local-level indicators of sustainability in forest-based communities: A mixed-method approach
Sense of place in social–ecological systems: From theory to empirics
Place-Based Pathways to Proenvironmental Behavior: Empirical Evidence for a Conservation–Recreation Model
This study expands existing models of proenvironmental behavior (PEB) to examine the potentially important and interacting influences of nature-based recreation and sense of place on participation in conservation-oriented activities. We tested hypothesized relationships using a structural equation modeling approach that accounted for common behavioral antecedents within a sample of 1,124 nature-based recreationists and property owners in rural co…
Culture Clash and Second Home Ownership in the U . S . Northern Forest
Culture clash, or intracommunity tensions related to rapid in‐migration, between permanent and newcomer residents has been well studied in relation to environmental conservation in natural amenity communities; however, less is known about culture clash within communities characterized by high rates of second home ownership. We examine the causes of perceived culture clash in communities of the U . S . Northern Forest using mail survey data from f…
Positive dependency and virtuous cycles: From resource dependence to resilience in urban social-ecological systems
Illuminating an overlooked hunting stakeholder group: Nonhunters and their interest in hunting
While the traditional sport hunter wildlife management constituency appears to be declining, little is known about another group of hunting stakeholders—nonhunters who know hunters, participate in hunting‐related activities, have positive beliefs about hunting, and perceive benefits from hunting. This study explored New York State nonhunters’ experiences with and perceptions of hunting, using interview and mailed questionnaire data collection tec…
Hunting and the heart: Physiological response to seeing, shooting, and bagging game
Based on hunter reports, previous research, and psychophysiology theory, we expected that encounters with wildlife would act as a stimulus for physiological response. Based on its applicability to field settings, we focused on heart rate as our physiological variable. Data were collected from 10 hunters for 56 separate hunts, using four levels of encounter with game: (1) no game seen, (2) game seen, but no shot taken, (3) shot taken, but missed, …
Sense of Place as an Attitude: Lakeshore Owners Attitudes Toward Their Properties
Hunting and Rural Socialization: Contingent Effects of the Rural Setting on Hunting Participation
This paper examines the relationship between rural socialization and hunting participation. Assessments of the cultural significance of hunting as a 'way of life' in rural areas echo traditional assertions of the importance of rurality, but do not consider the interplay between rural residence and other variables that affect hunting participation. Although previous research has demonstrated that rural residents are more likely to participate in h…
Moving towards local-level indicators of sustainability in forest-based communities: A mixed-method approach
Toward a Social Psychology of Place: Predicting Behavior from Place-Based Cognitions, Attitude, and Identity
Sense-of-place writings have proliferated in recent years, yet research suffers from a relative lack of construct clarity and hypothesis testing. This research presents a model of sense of place based in conventional social psychology: cognitions, attitudes, identities, and behavioral intentions located in and fundamentally about place. A survey of property owners in Vilas County, Wisconsin, revealed the importance of symbolic meanings as underpi…
Understanding the concept of representation within the context of local forest management decision making
Is It Really Just a Social Construction: The Contribution of the Physical Environment to Sense of Place
Although sense of place definitions nominally include the physical environment, much research has emphasized the social construction of sense of place and neglect the potentially important contributions of the physical environment to place meanings and attachment. This article presents research that tests several models that integrate (1) characteristics of the environment, (2) human uses of the environment, (3) constructed meanings, and (4) plac…
Forest Sector Dependence and Community Well-being: A Structural Equation Model for New Brunswick and British Columbia
Rural sociologists have a lengthy history of examining the relationship between natural resource dependence and community well-being. This paper contributes to the understanding of this relationship in several ways. First, census data were used to describe forest sector dependence in two Canadian provinces where levels of dependence were much higher than those commonly found in the United States. Second, instead of linear regression analysis, a s…
A Picture and 1000 Words: Using Resident-Employed Photography to Understand Attachment to High Amenity Places
Research on attachment to high amenity places has usually focused on visitors, despite the fact that many of these settings also may hold permanent residents. Visitor employed photography (VEP) has been used to understand landscape elements that increase the quality of the recreational experience. Our research applies the techniques of VEP to analyze local elements that foster place attachment among permanent residents of high amenity areas. We p…
Resource Dependence and Community Well-Being in Rural Canada
The well-being of residents of resource dependent communities is a question of traditional interest to rural sociologists. The label 'resource dependent' obscures how this relationship may vary between particular resource industries, regions, or indicators of well-being. Few analyses have compared the relationship between well-being and resource dependence across different industries, nor tested competing theories about the relationship between r…
Bear and Deer Hunter Density and Distribution on Public Land in Pennsylvania
Little research has focused on density, distribution, and habitat use of hunters. Here, field methods and statistical techniques developed for estimating density and habitat use of wildlife species are applied to big game hunters in Pennsylvania. Using aerial surveys, a large public land area (45,907 ha) in north-central Pennsylvania was studied to estimate hunter density and distribution during black bear (Ursus americanus) and white-tailed deer…
Effort versus Motivation: Factors Affecting Antlered and Antlerless Deer Harvest Success in Pennsylvania
Hunting can be an effective tool for managing deer populations, but hunter willingness to harvest deer and their success is critical to management capacity. Moreover, harvest of antlerless deer is crucial to managing deer populations. Previous research has examined the effects of weather, habitats, and hunter access on deer harvest success. However, hunter-related factors leading to harvest success are unknown. This study explored the effects of …
Why Landowners in Pennsylvania Post Their Property against Hunting
Recent reductions in access to private property have resulted in declining availability of private land for recreational purposes, including hunting. In Pennsylvania, access to such land for deer hunting is critical to effectively manage the Commonwealth’s deer herd. Posting is among the most commonly used means a private landowner has available to limit access to property. This study examined landowners’ motivations to post their land against hu…
A pilot test of a new stated preference valuation method: Continuous attribute-based stated choice
Environmental Perception in a Rapidly Growing, Amenity-Rich Region: The Effects of Lakeshore Development on Perceived Water Quality in Vilas County, Wisconsin
We explore the relationship between perceived and actual water quality in a rapidly growing, high-amenity rural area (Vilas County, WI) and how this relationship is affected by shoreline development. Although the data on the relationship between shore development and aquatic environs are not conclusive, people express high levels of concern about the environmental impacts of this type of growth. We link databases that include water quality and la…
Understanding Place Attachment Among Second Home Owners
Many high amenity rural communities are growing rapidly and have high rates of seasonal residence, with concomitant "impacts" on longer term permanent residents. The de facto stance that seasonal residents are "outsiders" marginalizes their experience and treats as givens questions that should remain open to empirical scrutiny. This article compares seasonal and year-round resident attachment to such a landscape. Counter to popular assumptions, s…
Snapshots of What Matters Most: Using Resident-Employed Photography to Articulate Attachment to Place
Sense-of-place research has grown in recent years and has attracted interest from a diverse range of disciplines. Beckley (2003 Beckley , T. M. 2003 . The relative importance of sociocultural and ecological factors in attachment to place . In Understanding community-forest relations , ed. L. Kruger , 105 – 126 . USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-GTR-566 . Portland , OR : Pacific Northwest Research Station . [Google Scholar]) sugges…
Measuring Community Forest-Sector Dependence: Does Method Matter
This study compares four community forest-sector dependence indices available to identify the degree of forest-sector dependence: proportions of employment and income earned in the sector, and economic base calculations that use employment and total income measures. For all four approaches, we use the most recent census data for all census subdivisions in Canada. The findings suggest that the choice of methodology matters in terms of the communit…
If We Knew What it Was We Were Doing, it Would Not be Called Research, Would it?”
Williams and Patterson (2007) raise provocative points in their response to our article. We welcome the opportunity to reflect on the trajectory of our collaboration and to further clarify our own
Deer Hunting on Pennsylvania's Public and Private Lands: A Two-Tiered System of Hunters
Recreational hunting is crucial for controlling white-tailed deer populations. Public land is increasingly important as access to private lands declines. However, differences between public and private land hunters remain unknown. Our study of Pennsylvania hunters revealed differences between private and public land hunters that may pose problems for management. Hunters who only hunted public land had lower harvest rates, especially of antlerless…
Categorizing Deer Hunters by Typologies Useful to Game Managers: A Latent-Class Model
Game managers emphasize hunting as the only realistic large-scale management tool currently available to control deer densities. Identifying the characteristics of hunters who place importance on deer hunting as a management tool, view deer damage as significant, or believe that current deer densities are too high could be valuable to game managers. Additionally, identifying demographic and behavioral characteristics of these hunters may allow in…
Socially Amplified Risk: Attitude and Behavior Change in Response to CWD in Wisconsin Deer
When chronic wasting disease (CWD) was discovered in the Wisconsin deer herd in early 2002 few people had attitudes about the disease, although they had strong attitudes toward deer and deer hunting. Because deer are important in Wisconsin, major newspapers published CWD stories at a rate of more than one a day for the last 10 months of 2002. Within weeks new attitudes were created along with behavioral intentions and documented changes in behavi…
Cleaning Up Water? Or Building Rural Community? Community Watershed Organizations in Pennsylvania
Recent initiatives from state and federal government agencies have helped foster the formation of community-based watershed organizations. Although there is a great deal of enthusiasm about the potential of these organizations to enhance water quality, relatively little attention has been paid to the impacts these organizations may have on the well-being of rural communities more generally. Assessments of effectiveness have typically focused on s…
West Virginia Wildland Fire as Latent Social Discontent
This research explores community perceptions of wildland fire risk in two fire-prone West Virginia counties. We employed community field theory and key informant interviews to observe how the local context, including sociocultural heritage, influenced risk perceptions, and meanings of fire. In contrast with expert risk assessments, residents did not view fire as a probability of harm. Residents’ familiarity with local ecology was important in att…
Geography (59 works) · Political science (57 works) · Sociology (57 works) · Psychology (48 works) · Ecology (40 works) · Economics (33 works) · Social Psychology (33 works) · Business (31 works) · Engineering (28 works) · Place Attachment and Urban Studies (28 works)