Research Social Scientist, US Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Amanda's research interests sit at the intersection of human geography, policy analysis, and the learning sciences. Her dissertation focused on MarineMap—a software tool implemented during the process of negotiating California’s Marine Protection Life Act Initiative. In this study, Amanda considered methods for evaluating MarineMap, and similar software, in ways that help groups collectively think, learn, and make environmental decisions in complex and often contentious public policy settings such as marine planning or federal lands management. She is also part of the Creativity in Research project, which has investigated the role of creativity in scholarly work and developed training for emerging scholars. She received a PhD from Stanford’s Emmett Interdisciplinary Program on Environment and Resources, an MA from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and a BA from Swarthmore College.