Social Science Research Council

2008 DPDF Research Field:
Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change

Global environmental changes––such as climate change, land change, and biodiversity loss––are worldwide biophysical changes resulting from a combination of human activities and natural processes.  The field of human dimensions of global environmental change (HDGEC) engages in research on human activities responsible for these global environmental changes, the underlying socioeconomic forces underlying and driving those activities, the consequences of global environmental changes for human systems, and the human responses to contemporary and anticipated global environmental changes.  HDGEC draws from and integrates the traditional social science disciplines of anthropology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, sociology, and others in an interdisciplinary research field created to better understand global environmental change and to inform public policy.

Practitioners working on HDGEC rely on approaches ranging from agent-based models, econometric models, and geographic information systems to surveys, focus groups, interviews, participant observations, ethnography, and archival research.  Practitioners regularly apply quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods analytical techniques to primary data they gather themselves and to secondary data they obtain from local, state, national, and international sources.  Despite the word “global” in HDGEC, much of the research focus is local because understanding global environmental changes requires place-based and context-specific knowledge. 

We seek students from disciplines that span the social sciences and humanities working on a range of possible topics. Geographers could study the human impacts on marine ecosystems and how they vary over time, across space, and between economic sectors and social groups.  Economists could address the potential economic responses to climate change, their effectiveness, and their costs and benefits.  Psychologists might consider how individuals value and decide among the range of options to mitigate climate change.  Sociologists could investigate how social networks make communities and regions better able to adapt to climate change.  Anthropologists could examine the cultural attitudes and beliefs driving the human activities degrading terrestrial ecosystems.  Political scientists might examine the ability of top-down vs. bottom up institutions to protect natural resources.  Historians could explore the evolution of institutional structures driving the rush to biofuels in the United States.  And philosophers could explore the ethics underpinning international climate regimes.  In most cases, students will want to cross multiple disciplinary boundaries, drawing from many areas of social science and the humanities to answer their research questions.

The workshops will emphasize the process of research design and research implementation.  Students will be encouraged to stretch the boundaries of their respective disciplines and explore how theories and methodologies from disparate disciplines can be used to design rich research projects to study the complex dynamics of and interactions between natural and social systems.