Rebecca McLain

Rebecca studies human-environmental interactions with the goal of providing policy-relevant data for the sustainable management of socio-ecological systems. As a CIFOR Senior Associate, she examines tenure and governance issues associated with forest landscape restoration and community forest investments. In her capacity as a research professor at Portland State University, she manages applied research projects on collaborative watershed restoration partnerships, collaborative forest landscape restoration, and cultural values mapping. Prior to joining Portland State University, Rebecca co-directed the Institute for Culture and Ecology, an independent non-profit research organization specializing in non-timber forest products governance and environmental justice issues. Her experience includes applied research on forest and land tenure in West Africa and Haiti. She has a Ph.D. in Social Science and Forestry from the University of Washington’s College of Forestry.