MICHAEL A. TARRANT
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My primary responsibilities are as Director of the Office of Studies Abroad in the South Pacific and Caribbean, offering year-round, short-term (3 to 6 credit) and long-term (12 credit) programs in Antarctica, Australia, Belize, Fiji, and New Zealand.
A native of England, I received my Ph.D. from Colorado State University and since 1992 have been a faculty member at the University of Georgia. I currently hold the post of Professor in the Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources.
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I work in the human dimensions of natural resources, especially in environmental values and attitudes, environmental justice, and protected area management. To examine these issues my research utilizes a variety of methods, ranging from geographic information systems to social science survey methodology. My current research interest is in understanding the impact of international education/study abroad experiences (specifically in the academic context of sustainable development) on expressions of humility and extensions to human-environment relationships.
Much of my previous research has been conducted in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and has led to the development of management tools including carrying capacity models for national rivers and state parks, and interactive databases and systems (e.g., the Human Dimensions Framework for Social Assessments, National Off-highway Vehicle Conservation Council Library, and an advisory protocol/training system for environmental justice). I have also been interested in expanding our understanding of how people relate to, and value, natural resources from a non-economic perspective, with a specific focus on recreation, forests, and wildlife. My more recent research has explored environmental justice issues in the growth and expansion of the wildland-urban interface using techniques in spatial analysis.
Areas in which research is conducted include:
• Natural resources recreation and ecotourism planning
• International protected area and wilderness management
• Geographic information systems applications in recreation and ecotourism
• Human dimensions of natural resources: Environmental values and attitudes
I have always enjoyed, and have been dedicated to, field instruction and my course instruction reflects this. For 10 years I taught on a forest ecology and measurements summer camp program for Colorado State University in the Rocky Mountains and since 1993 have led a field program to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the University of Georgia. In 2001 I initiated, and now direct, a suite of experiential study abroad programs to the South Pacific and Caribbean that focus on Sustainable Development: Sustaining Human Societies and Natural Environments. The programs include short- and long-term academic travel experiences in Antarctica, Australia, Belize, Fiji, and New Zealand.
On UGA campus, my instructional responsibilities have focused on courses in protected area management, natural resource recreation and tourism, and environmental conservation at both the graduate and undergraduate level.
I teach, or have taught, the following courses at the University of Georgia and elsewhere:
• Ecotourism and Park Management
• Environmental Interpretation
• Landscapes and Literature (Field Study in the United Kingdom)
• Natural Resources College Consortium (Field Study in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park)
• Natural Resources Ecology and Measurement
• Natural Resources Recreation Management
• Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Awareness
• Research and Evaluation
• Sustaining Human Societies and Natural Environments (Field Studies in the South Pacific)