Welcome to the SENS Lab
The Socio-Environmental Networks and Sustainability (SENS) Lab is a research group at the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. We investigate how people interact with one another and with ecosystems, and how those interactions affect social and environmental outcomes.
Much of our work focuses on coupled human-natural systems, in which collective action among diverse stakeholder groups is often necessary to address environmental risk. Likewise, stakeholders must grapple with social and ecological dynamics that span multiple spatial/administrative scales. Our research is broadly organized around three core themes: 1) how diverse stakeholder groups conceptualize risk, individually and collectively, 2) how policy actors navigate complex risk mitigation governance systems, and 3) how governance systems self-organize to manage environmental risk (see Research).
We are grateful for funding from The Ohio State University, the Sustainability Institute, and the National Science Foundation.
News
April 10, 2025Congrats Dr. Prabhjot Singh, for successfully defending your PhD dissertation on A Multiscale Approach to Sustainable Land Management - Examining Soil Health, Farmer Decision-Making, and Carbon Farming Governance!
March 24, 2025TEDxOSU talk by Abby on The Power of Multi-Steam Solutions to Complex Problems.
February 28, 2025Congrats Prabhjot! First place award in the Edward F. Hayes Advanced Research Forum Food, Agriultural, and Environmental Sciences section.
November 1, 2024New paper by Abby André on modern disaster fragmentation
September 17, 2024New paper with Holly Nesbitt, Nicola Ulibarri, and Matt Williamson on use of network metrics for measuring social capital in environmental governance
August 5, 2024New paper led by Karissa Courtney and Emily Rabung on participatory process mapping
July 10, 2024Congrats Dr. Harrison Fried, for successfully defending your PhD dissertation on Navigating Complexity in Social-Ecological Systems!
June 28, 2024Congrats Monika Moreu-Vicente, for successfully defending your MS thesis on Perceptions of Fuel-Vegetation Controls on Landscape-Scale Wildfire Risk in North-West European Heathlands!
June 5, 2024New paper led by Harrison Fried on engaged network tools to close collaborative gaps