HELLO AND WELCOME. This is the website for Dr. Pamela McElwee, Professor in the Department of Human Ecology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. I am leading interdisciplinary work at the biodiversity-climate interface to find solutions to our planetary crises. Currently I serve as co-chair of the thematic assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health (the “nexus assessment”) for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), alongside Paula Harrison of the UK. As co-chair, I selected the scientific team for the assessment, which consists of 170 plus scientists from 60 countries and a range of different disciplines. Our rigorous work assessing and analyzing the current state of science around integrated solutions to interlinked environmental challenges will be considered by the 140 governments who are members of IPBES at the 11th plenary in December 2024 in Namibia.
MY RESEARCH INTERESTS are in the socio-ecological impacts of global environmental problems, with my particular expertise in biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. I have conducted extensive fieldwork in Southeast Asia and use methods ranging from quantitative household surveys to qualitative interviews to forest mensuration and botanical sampling to study ecologically critical regions, such as tropical forests and coastal estuaries, to understand how best to manage and govern these systems. Most of my work integrates household-level analysis of decision-making regarding resource use with an examination of global institutional practices and norms that influence environmental management. I am increasingly involved in US-based work on New Jersey and the Atlantic coast as well. You can read more about my current research projects here.
I was also awarded an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for work on a book currently titled Rivers of Blood, Mountains of Bone: An Environmental History of the Vietnam War which examines the role of conflict in creating environmental vulnerabilities, both deliberate and inadvertent. My first book Forests are Gold: Trees, People, and Environmental Rule in Vietnam was honored by the European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EUROSEAS) as the best book on Southeast Asia in the social sciences, as well as shortlisted for the best book on Asia in the social sciences division by the International Convention of Asian Scholars. My other publications can be found on ResearchGate.
I serve as an editor at several journals, including PLOS Climate and formerly edited for Conservation Letters, Conservation and Society, and the Journal of Vietnamese Studies.
MY SCIENCE-POLICY WORK has increased considerably in recent years. In addition to leading the current IPBES nexus assessment, I led the chapter on ecosystems for the US Fifth National Climate Assessment. I also served as a lead author for chapter 6 on governance of biodiversity for the IPBES Global Assessment, and as a lead author for chapter 6 on integrated response options in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on Climate Change and Land. I served as one of 50 expert authors for the joint IPCC/IPBES Workshop Report on Climate Change and Biodiversity released in June 2021.
I am the Group Lead for the Cultural Practices and Ecosystem Management Thematic Group of the IUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem Management and served on the scientific development committee for the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions. I was also on the IUCN Advisory Board for the Nature-based Recovery Initiative.
ON THIS SITE you will find links to my publications, syllabi from courses I have taught at Rutgers and Arizona State, and additional information about my work. If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about opportunities to study with me at Rutgers, please send me an email.
Media quotes about my work can be found on my media page. The best way to contact me for interviews is email.