Theresa SelfaProfessor and Associate Chair

211C Marshall Hall
1 Forestry Drive
Syracuse, NY 13210

315-470-6570 | 315-470-6636
tselfa@esf.edu

Education

• Cornell University, Development Sociology PhD 2001
• UC Berkeley, City and Regional Planning MCP 
• Whitman College, English Literature BA 

Research Interests

Social Dimension of Food-Energy-Water Systems

Politics of Agrifood Systems

Political Ecology

Environmental Governance

Sustainability Certification and Labelling

US and Latin America

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Courses Taught

• Undergraduate: Environment and Society; Social Processes and the Environment
• Graduate: Environment and Social Theory; Qualitative Research Methods

Current and Recently Completed Research Projects

• Identifying Gaps in Public Trust and Governance Recommendations for Gene Edited Foods. C. Bain, PI. C. Wolf, J. Wolt, T. Selfa, D. Peters, co-PIs. USDA NIFA, Social Implications of Emerging Technologies. June 2018-May 2020.
• Experimental Frameworks for Evaluating Net Effects of Hydrologic Service Payments on Coupled Social-Ecohydrological Systems in Mexico.” H. Asbjornsen, PI, A. Mayer, K. Jones, R. Congalton, T. Selfa, co-PI.  NSF CNH (Coupled Natural and Human Systems) “Jan. 2014-Sept. 2019. 
• The Role of Citizen Science in Watershed Hydrology Research: Relationships between Volunteer Motivations, Data Quantity and Quality, and Decision-Making.    A. Mayer, PI. K. Jones, PI., H. Asbjornsen, C. Berry, L. Villers, T. Selfa, co-PIs. NSF CBET (Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems) EAGER (Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research). Jan. 2017- Dec. 2018.  
• Sustainability, Ecosystem Services, and Forest-Related Bioenergy Development across the Americas. K. Halvorsen, PI, T. Selfa, Senior Personnel.   NSF PIRE (Program on International Research and Education). Oct. 2012-Sept. 2018. 
• Lake Ontario Basin Agriculture in the Coming Decades: Room for expansion or imminent future regional water conflict. S. Shaw, PI and T. Selfa, co-PI.    USDA AFRI Water for Agriculture Challenge Grant.  May 2015-Dec. 2017.

Recent Publications

Google Scholar Citations

Jones, K., S. Avila, E. Pischke, J. Salcone, D. Torrez, T. Selfa, and K. Halvorsen. 2019. “Examining Participation and Human Well-being Outcomes of Payments for Hydrological Services Programs in Mexico.” Ecological Economics.

Nava-Lopez, M.*, T. Selfa, D. Cordoba, E. Pischke, D. Torrez, S. Ávila-Foucat, K. Halvorsen, and C. Maganda. 2018. “Decentralizing Payments for Watershed Services programs in Veracruz, Mexico: Challenges and Implications for Long Term Sustainability.”  Society and Natural Resources. Published online 4 June 2018.

Eaton, W., M. Burnham, C. Clare Hinrichs, T. Selfa, and S. Yang.  2018. “How do socio-cultural factors shape landowner support for local bioenergy crop production and willingness to grow perennial bioenergy crops in mixed-use landscapes.”  Landscape and Urban Planning  175: 195-204.  

Abrams, J., E. Nielsen, D. Diaz, T. Selfa, E. Adams, J. Dunn, and C. Moseley. 2018. “Why do states embrace non-state forest governance models? Evidence from sustainability certification in the US and Argentina.”  Global Environmental Politics. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00470 .

Cordoba, D., T. Selfa, J. Abrams and D. Sombra. 2018. “Family Farming, Agribusiness and the State: Building consent around oil palm expansion in post-neoliberal Brazil.”   Journal of Rural Studies 57: 147-156.

Cordoba, D., M. Chiappe, J. Abrams and T. Selfa. 2018. “Making Biodiesel Fair? Progressive Extractivism and Biofuel Production in Latin America’s Southern Cone.”  Development and Change 49 (1): 63-88.  

O’Connor-Robinson, M., T. Selfa and P. Hirsch. 2017. “Navigating the complex trade-offs of pesticide use on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos.”  Society and Natural Resources Vol. 31 (2).  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2017.1382625

Bain, C. and T. Selfa. 2017. “Non-GMOs vs. Organic Labels: Purity or Process Guarantees in a GMO Contaminated Landscape.”Agriculture and Human Values Vol. 34(4): 805-818.   

Bain, C., T. Selfa, T. Dandachi, and S. Velardi. 2017. “Superweeds or Survivors? Framing the Problem of Glyphosate Resistant Weeds and Genetically Engineered Crops.”  Journal of Rural Studies 51: 211-221.

Eaton, W., M. Burnham, C. Hinrichs and T. Selfa. 2017. “Bioenergy Experts and Their Imagined Publics: Implications for Public Engagement and Participation.” Energy Research and Social Science, 25: 65–75

Burnham, M., W. Eaton, T. Selfa, C. Hinrichs, and A.  Parker. 2017. “The politics of imaginaries and bioenergy sub-niches in the emerging northeast U.S. bioenergy economy.”  Geoforum 82: 66-76.

Takahashi, B., M. Burnham, C. Terracina, A. Sopchak, and T. Selfa.  2016. “Climate change perceptions of NY State farmers:  The role of risk perceptions and adaptive capacity.” Journal of Environmental management 58(6): 946-957.

Kulcsar, L, T. Selfa,  & C. Bain. 2016. “Privileged access and rural vulnerabilities: Examining social and environmental exploitation in bioenergy development in the American Midwest.” Journal of Rural Studies 47: 291-299.

Asbjornsen, H.,  A. Mayer, K. Jones, T. Selfa, R. Kolka, L. Saenz, K.  Halvorsen.  2015.  “Assessing Impacts of Payments for Watershed Services on Sustainability in Coupled Natural Human Systems.” Bioscience 65 (6): 579-592.

Selfa, T., C. Bain, R. Moreno*, A. Eastmond, S. Sweitz, C. Bailey, T. Martins*, G. Simas Pereira*, R. Medeiros. 2015. “Interrogating Social Sustainability in the Biofuels Sector in Latin America: Tensions between Global Standards and Local Experiences in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.” Environmental Management 56 (6): 1315-1329.

Feldpausch-Parker, A., M. Burnham, M. Melnik*, M. Callaghan*, and T. Selfa. 2015. “News Media Analysis of CCS and Biomass: Perceptions and Possibilities."  Invited for Special Issue on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Bio-Energy vs. Fossil Fuels. Energies Vol. 8: 3058-74.

Selfa, T., A. Iaroi*, and M. Burnham. 2015.  Promoting Ethanol in Rural Kansas: Cultural Politics and Local Framings. Journal of Rural Studies 39: 63-73.

Selfa, T., C. Bain and R. Moreno*. 2014. “Depoliticizing Land and Water ‘Grabs’ in Colombia: The Limits of Bonsucro Certification for Enhancing Sustainable Biofuel Practices.” Special Issue on The Paradoxes of Multi Stakeholder Initiatives in the Age of Global Agri-food Governance. Agriculture and Human Values 31(3): 455-468.

Takahashi, B.* and T. Selfa. 2014. “Pro-Environmental Behavior in Rural Agricultural Communities: Examining the roles of environmental attitudes, community satisfaction, and community attachment.”   Environment and Behavior 47(8): 856-876.

Bain, C. and T. Selfa. 2013. “Framing and Reframing the Environmental Risks and Economic Benefits of Ethanol Production in Iowa.” Agriculture and Human Values 30 (3): 351-364

White, S.  and T. Selfa. 2013. “Shifting Lands: Exploring Kansas Farmer Decision-Making in an Era of Climate Change and Biofuels Production.” Journal of Environmental Management 51(2): 379-391.

Professional Memberships

 

• Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society
• International Association for Society and Natural Resources
• Rural Sociological Society
• Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences
• Association of American Geographers

Journal Editorships

Associate Editor, Rural Sociology

Associate Editor, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems