Oregon Sea Grant and the Oregon State University Extension Service have hired an environmental sociologist to help coastal communities enhance their understanding of critical social and environmental issues and help them create locally relevant solutions.
Valerie Berseth, most recently a postdoctoral fellow at Carleton University in Canada, will start her new position as an Oregon Sea Grant’s Extension specialist in the human dimensions of coastal systems on Aug. 26.
Berseth will initially focus on building relationships, getting to know people on the coast, and learning what they care about and what challenges they face. She’ll work with them to identify issues they want to address, then she’ll collaborate with them and others to design and deliver events such as workshops and meetings. Issues might include climate adaptation, coastal resilience, marine energy, fisheries or conservation, the university said in a news release.
Additionally, she plans to team up with different groups to help develop research projects that meet local priorities and needs. And she’ll work to increase coastal policymakers’ awareness of research findings so they can make informed decisions to support coastal communities, particularly those that have been underserved or marginalized.
“A lot of the work that I’ve done has been out in the field, on boats, on rivers, talking to people about the worlds that they inhabit,” Berseth said in a statement announcing her hire. I’ve had a lot of great opportunities to identify knowledge needs in communities and design programs that can try and meet those needs.”
