Shauna BurnSilver

Associate Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change

Assistant Professor, Biosocial Complexity Initiative

Assistant Professor, Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity (CSDC)

Assoc Professor, Center for Behavior, Institutions and the Environment > Affiliated Faculty

Senior Global Futures Scientist, Global Futures Scientists and Scholars

Affiliate, Melikian Center

Assoc Professor, ESSA Faculty

School of Human Evolution and Social Change Mathews Center 203H Box 972402, 900 S. Cady Mall Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Mail code: 2402

Campus: Tempe
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Long Bio

Shauna BurnSilver is an environmental anthropologist interested in how changes in the global climate and economic dynamics are affecting relationships between people and the environments they depend on.

At the core of her work is an examination of social processes, particularly the role of social relationships embedded in networks, which shape households, communities and diverse stakeholder responses to change, in turn affecting livelihoods, well-being and institutional frameworks. BurnSilver poses theoretical questions from within Environmental Anthropology, but the majority of her work is interdisciplinary and collaborative, an approach that allows exploration of change dynamics at a range of scales - small and large - critical for addressing complex questions of persistence, vulnerability and resilience within social-ecological systems.

The perspective that social cohesion matters, and social relationships are a means by which critical resources and information flow between people and organizations is a thread uniting BurnSilver’s early work with Maasai pastoralists in Kenya, as well as current collaborations with Arctic communities and policy makers in Alaska and Russia, and utility assistance providers in Urban Phoenix. In each case social relationships are integral to understanding processes of human-environmental decision-making – for example, how people responded to land tenure transformations (Kenya), the persistence of Arctic mixed economies even as economic conditions change (Alaska), climate change effects on community and international policy networks (Berengia), and the effect of rising temperatures on utility assistance provision for vulnerable groups (Phoenix).

A second theme linking BurnSilver’s work is human connections to place, and through this lens, the livelihoods pursued in diverse places. How do different groups describe relationships with their land and resources, Nature (writ large) and the environment? Do these cultural understandings shape social relationships and human-environment decisions in the short and long terms, and if so - how? This work engages with narratives of "progress", "well-being" and “vulnerability” in the midst of changes.

Strong collaborations with communities and diverse stakeholders are the foundation of all BurnSilver’s work and research. Methodologically, she combines qualitative and quantitative methodologies, leveraging the strengths of ethnography and quantitative survey research and incorporating unique insights gained from network analysis, traditional ecological knowledge, collaborative science, and agent-based and social-ecological modeling to understand patterns of change - and their implications for people and landscapes now and into the future.

Education

Ph.D. Human Ecology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University
M.S. Resource Interpretation, Colorado State Univerity
B. A. International Relations, Scripps College

Curriculum Vitae (0 bytes)

Google Scholar URL

Google Scholar Profile

Research Interests

Environmental, Ecological and Economic Anthropology; Vulnerability; Resilience; Social-ecological Systems; Cooperation; Food Sharing; Social Networks, Mixed Economies; Well-being; Sense of Place; Maasai (Kenya) and Tuareg pastoralists (Mali); Iñupiaq (Alaska).

Project links:

Knowledge Enterprise for Resilience (KER) Sharing Projects, Alaska ARC-NAV

Publications

16 Baggio, J. A., S. B. BurnSilver, S. B., A. Arenas, J.S. Magdanz, G.P. Kofinas, and M. De Domenico (2016). Multiplex social ecological network analysis reveals how social changes affect community robustness more than resource depletion. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(48), 13708-13713.

15 Brinkman, T., W. Hansen*, F.S. Chapin III, G. Kofinas, S. BurnSilver, and T.S. Rupp (2016). Arctic communities perceive climate impacts on access as a critical challenge to availability of subsistence resources. Climatic Change 139 (3):413-427.

14 Petrov, A., S.B. BurnSilver, F.S. Chapin III, G. Fondahl, J. Graybill, K. Keil, A. Nilsson, R. Riedlsperger* and P. Schweitzer. Arctic sustainability research: toward a new agenda (2016). Polar Geography. Aug:165-178. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1088937X.2016.1217095

13 BurnSilver, S. B., J. Magdanz, R. Stotts*, M. Berman and G. Kofinas (2016). Are Mixed Economies Persistent or Transitional? Evidence using social networks from Arctic Alaska. American Anthropologist. 118(1):121-129.

12 BurnSilver, S.B. (2016). Representing Wealth in a Changing Pastoral Economy: A comparison of traditional and new metrics in Maasailand, Kenya. Nomadic Peoples. 20(1):8-34.

11 Galvin, K.A., T. Beeton*, R. Boone, and S. B. BurnSilver (2015). Health and Nutritional Status of Maasai Pastoralists under Change. Human Ecology 43(3):411-424. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10745-015-9749 x?wt_mc=email.event.1.SEM.ArticleAuthorOnlineFirst

10 Risvoll, C.*, G. Fedreheim, A. Sandberg and S. BurnSilver (2014). Does Pastoralists' Participation in the Management of National Parks in Northern Norway Contribute to Adaptive Governance? Ecology and Society 19(2): 71. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss2/art71/

9 R. Biggs, M. Schlüter, D. Biggs, E.L. Bohensky, S.B. BurnSilver, G. Cundill, V. Dakos, T.M. Daw, L.S. Evans, K. Kotschy, A. Leitch, C. Meek, A. Quinlan, C. Raudsepp-Hearne, M.D. Robards, M.L. Schoon, L. Schultz, P.C. West (2011). Toward Principles for Enhancing the Resilience of Ecosystem Services. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 37:421-448.

8 Boone, R. B., K. A. Galvin, S. B. BurnSilver, P. K. Thornton, D. S. Ojima, and J.R. Jawson (2011). Using coupled simulation models to link pastoral decision making and ecosystem services. Ecology and Society, 16(2), 6.

7 Kofinas G.P., F.S. Chapin III, S.B. BurnSilver, K. Kielland, J. Schmidt and A. Springsteen (2010) Resilience in the face of Climate Change: Forests, Fire, Moose Hunting, and Subsistence in Interior Alaska. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 40(7): 1347-1359.

6 Reid, R.S., D. Nkadienye, M. Y. Said, D. Kaelo, M. Neselle, O. Makui, L. Onetu, S. Kiruswa, N. Ole Kamuaro, P. Kristjanson, J. Ogutu, S.B. BurnSilver, M. J. Goldman, R. B. Boone, K. A. Galvin, N. M. Dickson, and W. C. Clark (2009). Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Development Special Feature Sackler Colloquium. Evolution of models to support communities and policy action with science: Balancing pastoral livelihoods and wildlife conservation in savannas of East Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). 113(17):4579-4584. www.pnas.org_cgi_doi_10.1073_pnas.0900313106

5 Boone, R. B., S. B. BurnSilver, J. S. Worden, K. A. Galvin, and N.T. Hobbs (2008). Large-Scale Movements of Large Herbivores Livestock following changes in seasonal forage supply. Resource Ecology, 187-206.

4 Thornton, P.K., R.B. Boone, K.A. Galvin, S.B. BurnSilver, M.M. Waithaka, J. Kuyiah, S. Karanja, E. González-Estrada and M. Herrero (2007). Coping strategies in livestock-dependent households in East and southern Africa: a synthesis of four case studies. Human Ecology 35(4): 461-476. 20%

3 Christensen L., S.B. BurnSilver and M. Coughenour. (2006). Integrated Assessment of the Dynamics, Stability and Resilience of Inner Mongolian Grazing Ecosystems. Nomadic Peoples. 9.1: 131-146.

2 Thornton, P.K., S.B. BurnSilver, R.B. Boone, and K.A. Galvin (2006). Modeling the impacts of group ranch subdivision on agro-pastoral households in Kajiado, Kenya. Agricultural Systems. 87:331-356.

1 Boone, R.B., S.B. BurnSilver, P.K. Thornton, J.S. Worden, and K.A. Galvin. (2005). Quantifying declines in livestock due to land subdivision. Rangeland Ecology & Management. 58:523-532.

BOOK CHAPTERS (10 total)

10 BurnSilver, S.B., R. Boone, G. Kofinas, and T. Brinkman (2017). Tradeoffs in the mixed economies of village Alaska: Hunting, working and sharing in the context of change. In: The Give and Take of Sustainability: Archaeological and Anthropological Perspectives. M. Hegmon, ed. New Directions in Sustainability and Society Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 52-83.

9 Berman, M., G. Kofinas and BurnSilver, S.B. (2016). Community scale Vulnerability In: Northern Sustainabilities: Understanding and Addressing Change in the Circumpolar World. Fondahl, G. and G. Wilson, eds. New York: Springer Verlag. Pp. 59-75.

8 Dakos, V., A. Quinlan, J. Baggio, E. Bennett, O. Bodin, and S.B. BurnSilver (2015). Connectivity. In: Principles for Enhancing the Resilience of Ecosystem Services. R. Biggs, M. Schlueter and M. Schoon eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 80-104.

7 BurnSilver S.B. (2009). Pathways of Change and Continuity: Maasai Livelihoods in Amboseli, Kajiado District, Kenya. In: Changing Land use and Livelihoods in Tanzania and Kenya Maasailand. K. Homewood, P. Kristjanson, P. Trench and M. Radeny, eds. New York: Verlag Publishers. Pp 161-201.

6 Serneels, S., M. Herrero, S.B. BurnSilver, P.C. Trench, K. Cochrane, K. Homewood, P. Kristjanson, F. Nelson, M. Radeny, M. Thompson, and M.Y. Said (2009). Methods in the Analysis of Maasai Livelihoods. In: Changing Land use and Livelihoods in Tanzania and Kenya Maasailand. K. Homewood, P. Kristjanson, P. Trench and M. Radeny, eds. New York: Verlag Publishers. Pp. 43-62.

5 Galvin, K. A., R. B. Boone, S.B. BurnSilver, and P.K. Thornton (2008). Humans and wildlife as ecosystem components in integrated assessments. In: Wildlife and Society: The Science of Human Dimensions. Manfredo, M., Vaske, J., Brown, P., Decker, D. and E. Duke, eds. Washington, D.C.: Island Press. Pp. 129-142.

4 BurnSilver, S.B. and J.S. Worden (2008). Processes of Fragmentation in the Amboseli Ecosystem. In: Fragmentation of Semi-Arid and Arid Landscapes: Consequences for Human and Natural Systems. K. Galvin, R. Reid, R. Behnke and T. Hobbs, eds. New York: Verlag Publishers. Pp. 225-244.

3 Boone, R.B., S.B. BurnSilver, and R. Kruska. (2008). Comparing Landscape and Infrastructural Heterogeneity Within and Between Ecosystems. In: Fragmentation of Semi-Arid and Arid Landscapes: Consequences for Human and Natural Systems. K. Galvin, R. Reid, R. Behnke and T. Hobbs, eds. New York: Verlag Publishers. Pp. 341-368.

2 Boone, R.B., S.B. BurnSilver, J.S. Worden, K.A. Galvin, and T. Hobbs. (2008). Large Scale Movements of Large Herbivores: Livestock Following Changes in food Supply. In: Spatial Ecology of Large Herbivores and Pastoralists. H.H.T. Prins and F. van Langevelde, eds. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Pp. 187-206.

1 BurnSilver, S.B. , R.B. Boone, and K.A. Galvin. (2003). Linking pastoralists to a heterogeneous landscape: The case of four Maasai Group Ranches in Kajiado District, Kenya. In: Linking household and remotely sensed data: Methodological and practical problems. Fox, J., V. Mishra, R. Rindfuss, and S. Walsh, eds. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Pp. 173-199.

Research Activity

RESEARCH FUNDING

EXTERNAL FUNDING – COMPETITIVELY AWARDED (3 total)

3       Modeling harvesting behavior to understand adaptation, mitigation, and transformation in northern subsistence systems. National Science Foundation, Arctic Social Sciences. PIs: B. Valcic and G. Kofinas. $316,779. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Colorado State University and ASU, Role: Project Personnel, ($30,000) (2013-2014).

2       Hydrology, Ecology and Pastoralism, Agoufou, Mali, West Africa. National Science Foundation, Coupled Natural and Human Systems Grant, PI: Niall Hanan. 1,300,000 Role: Co-PI: $149,000. (2011-2016 with no-cost extension due to Coup in Mali, West Africa, project year 2)

1       The Study of Sharing Networks in Alaska. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean, Energy and Management (BOEM). $783,000 Project PI: Gary Kofinas. Role: Co-PI $50,583 (2012-2014).

EXTERNAL FUNDING – PENDING (1 total)

1       Social Networks, Subsistence Harvests, Adaptation, Resilience and Environmental Change in Arctic Mixed Economies (SHARE) National Science Foundation, Collaborative Research Proposal, Arctic Social Science PIs: S. BurnSilver and D. Gerkey (Oregon State University) $1,060,671 Role: Co-PI $642,089 (2017-2022).

INTERNAL FUNDING – COMPETITIVELY AWARDED (2 total)

2       Workshop to support re-submission of Arctic Social Science proposal. Seed Grant - Institute for Social Science Research Role PI: $4,500 (2016).

1       Collaboration Laboratory (Co-Lab): A Solution Space for Development Thinking. ASU Global Institute of Sustainability. Walton Initiative - NextGen Proposal. Project PIs: E. Hackett and H. Eakin. $348,000 Role: Faculty (2013-2014).

Courses

2023 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 492	Honors Directed Study
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
SOS 799	Dissertation
ASB 493	Honors Thesis
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 592	Research
ASB 792	Research
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 492	Honors Directed Study
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
ASB 493	Honors Thesis

2022 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 492	Honors Directed Study
ASB 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 792	Research
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
ASB 493	Honors Thesis
ASB 592	Research
ASB 375	Humans and the Environment
SOS 375	Humans and the Environment
ASB 300	Food and Culture
ASB 492	Honors Directed Study

2022 Summer

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 792	Research
ASB 799	Dissertation

2022 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
SOS 799	Dissertation
ASB 493	Honors Thesis
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 792	Research
ASB 592	Research
SOS 553	Chngng Human-Nature Relatnshp
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 492	Honors Directed Study
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
ASB 530	Chngng Human-Nature Relatnshp

2021 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
SOS 375	Humans and the Environment
ASB 375	Humans and the Environment
ASB 792	Research
ASB 799	Dissertation

2021 Summer

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 792	Research
ASB 590	Reading and Conference

2021 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 792	Research
ESS 502	Politicl Ecology: Thry & Rsrc
ASB 300	Food and Culture
ASB 584	Internship
ASB 300	Food and Culture
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
ASB 492	Honors Directed Study
ASB 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
ASB 592	Research
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 493	Honors Thesis
SOS 799	Dissertation

2020 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 792	Research
ASB 799	Dissertation

2020 Summer

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 792	Research
ASB 799	Dissertation

2020 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 492	Honors Directed Study
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
ASB 493	Honors Thesis
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 792	Research
ASB 592	Research
ASB 530	Chngng Human-Nature Relatnshp
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
SOS 553	Chngng Human-Nature Relatnshp
ASB 584	Internship
SOS 799	Dissertation

2019 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 584	Internship
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 792	Research
ASB 499	Individualized Instruction
ASB 493	Honors Thesis
ASB 592	Research
ASB 375	Humans and the Environment
SOS 375	Humans and the Environment
ASB 492	Honors Directed Study

2019 Summer

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 799	Dissertation

2019 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 792	Research
ASB 592	Research
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 300	Food and Culture
ASB 300	Food and Culture
ESS 502	Politicl Ecology: Thry & Rsrc

2018 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
SOS 553	Chngng Human-Nature Relatnshp
ASB 530	Chngng Human-Nature Relatnshp
SOS 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 592	Research
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 792	Research
ASB 799	Dissertation
ASB 790	Reading and Conference

2018 Summer

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 799	Dissertation

2018 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
ASB 790	Reading and Conference
ASB 592	Research
ASB 590	Reading and Conference
ASB 792	Research
ASB 580	Practicum
SOS 596	Capstone: Scientific Paper
ASB 375	Humans and the Environment
SOS 375	Humans and the Environment
ASB 799	Dissertation

Presentations

S.B. BurnSilver, J. Magdanz and R. Boone. Operationalizing Resilience within Alaskan Mixed Economies: Patterns, Processes and Dynamics. AAAs (Dec 2014).
S. BurnSilver and T. McCabe (Organizers) M. Nelson, D. Gerkey, K. Galvin, M. Bollig. Operationalizing Resilience Theory within Anthropology. AAA Annual Conference (Dec 2014).
BurnSilver S.B. From East Africa to the Arctic: Comparative Livelihood Analyses to Explore Arctic Sustainabilities. Sustainability and Sustainable Development in the Arctic: Arctic FROST (Sep 2014).
S.B. BurnSilver, J. Ziker and D. Gerkey. Using Social Network Analysis to Understand Arctic Sustainability. the 4th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS IV) (Jun 2014).
S. B. BurnSilver, J. Baggio, J. Magdanz, A. Arenas, M. De Domenico, and G. Kofinas. Ties that bind us together: Sharing, Cooperation and Vulnerability in the Alaskan North. The 4th International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS IV) (Jun 2014).
S.B. BurnSilver. Proposition: Social Institutions Contribute to Resilience within SESs at the Margins. Third International Science and policy Conference on the resilience of social & ecological systems (May 2014).
S. B. BurnSilver, J. Baggio, J. Magdanz, A. Arenas, M. De Domenico, and G. Kofinas. Ties that bind us together: Sharing, Cooperation and Vulnerability in the Alaskan North. Third International Science and policy Conference on the resilience of social & ecological systems (May 2014).
S.B. BurnSilver and J. Baggio. Networks and Cooperation: Are social network characteristics generalizable in thinking about Resilience?. Third International Science and policy Conference on the resilience of social & ecological systems (May 2014).
S.B. BurnSilver, J. Baggio and J. Magdanz. Session Title: How do social relationships offset household vulnerability in the context of rapid change? Paper Title: What does observed multiplexity in food sharing and cooperative networks suggest for household vulnerability in the Alaskan North?. 112th American Anthropological Association - Annual Meeting (Nov 2013).
BurnSilver, S. Role of Sharing and Cooperation in Offsetting Household Vulnerability. Colloquium - Seminar Series, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anch (Jun 2013).
S. B. BurnSilver, Kofinas, G. and J. Magdanz. Superhunters, Superhouseholds and Superproviders. Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting (Mar 2013).
BurnSilver, S. Sharing and Cooperation in the Far North: Old social mechanisms under evolving economic and climatic conditions in village Alaska. Stanford University Ecology and Environment - Winter Colloquium Series (Mar 2013).
S. BurnSilver. Sharing and Cooperation in 3 Northern Communities. Research Roundtable - see notes (Jul 2012).
S. BurnSilver. Pastoral Land Use Change 1994 to 2012: Agoufou, Mali. HEP-SAHEL NSF Project Workshop (Jun 2012).
S. BurnSilver. Thinking about Household Vulnerability in Pastoral and Arctic Social-Ecological Systems. Resilience and Adaptation Seminar Series - University of Alaska Fairbanks (May 2012).
S. BurnSilver. COMPETE - Bioenergy and Sustainability in Subsaharan Africa. ICSS 2012: Sustainability Science in Action. The 3rd International Conference on Sustainability Sc (Feb 2012).

Honors / Awards

ACADEMIC DISTINCTIONS

2017 SHESC Undergraduate Teaching Award

2012 Nominated for Zebulon Pearce Teaching Award, ASU.

2012 Ecological Society of America Sustainability Science Award. Annual award goes to a scholarly work making the greatest contribution to the emerging science of ecosystem and regional sustainability through the integration of ecological and social sciences. Awarded to team of collaborators on the Reid et. al. (2009) PNAS Paper.

2011 Department of the Interior, Partners in Conservation Award given to the "Subsistence Sharing Project" - University of Alaska. Annual award given in recognition of a collaborative social science effort on the North Slope of Alaska to advance scientific, institutional, and methodological progress in understanding and monitoring the sensitivity of Native subsistence activities to potential disruption by changing arctic conditions.

2008 Selected scholar for the Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research (DISCCRS IV). A National Science Foundation funded initiative. Saguaro Lake Ranch, AZ. September 2008.

2007 Recipient of the Lourdes Arizpe Award (Student Category). Award presented biennially through the Anthropology and Environment Section of the American Anthropological Association for outstanding achievement in the application of anthropology to environmental issues and discourse in international or domestic arenas across all ecological and policy applications.

Service

See innovation and impact - AEWC entry, Research Dissemination (2014 - Present)
Journal of Land Use Science, Reviewer (2013 - Present)
Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS), ASU Representative (2013 - Present)
Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS), ASU Representative (2013 - Present)
Graduate Research Committee, Chair (2013 - 2015)
SHESC Search Committee - SW Borderland Search, Committee Member (2014 - 2014)
SHESC Archaeology Search Committee, Committee Member (2012 - 2013)

Expertise Areas

Sociocultural Anthropology

Environmental Social Science

Sustainability

Networks

Global Development