What is the visitor carrying capacity of our national parks? How are social equity and ecological conditions valued and negotiated through public process? What features contribute to visual buy-in for climate adaptation? How do political-legal, economic, aesthetic, and historic land use considerations shape multiple use landscapes? Are the current and future trajectories of forest management bound by original mandates or can new paradigms emerge amid socio-ecological complexity?

The work of my research group attempts to answer these and other questions. We work with partners at the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and other public lands to inform management decisions through research, teaching, and public facing data collection methods. Technologies including geovisualization and geographic information systems allow for information to be geospatially communicated in much of this work. This research is built upon theoretical traditions of critical resource geography, socio-ecological systems, political ecology, regional planning, and public lands management. 

Core affiliations at University of California, Merced include the Ernest and Julio Gallo Management Program, Environmental Systems Graduate Group, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, and the National Parks Institute.

Areas of Interest

Parks and Protected Areas Management, Political Ecology, Community and Regional Planning, Coupled Human and Natural Systems, The American West

Recent Press and Commentary

UC Merced’s WAVE technology gives researchers a new view at Yosemite National Park, ABC30 Action News Fresno article and video by Brandon Johansen.

The Future Of … Heritage and Cultures – Technological advancements and a shift to interdisciplinary research have changed the way researchers can look at the past to help inform the future, University of California, Merced coverage by Kenneth Mashinchi.

YosemiteLand, Episode 1: Selfie Trap, Capital Public Radio podcast series by Ezra David Romero.

Commentary: Why President Trump must support national parks, San Francisco Chronicle article by J. Jenkins.

Public Lands Exchanges: For Whom And For What?, Science Trends article by J. Jenkins.

Contact: jeff.jenkins@ucmerced.edu