Dr Evan Fraser

Senior Lecturer: Sustainable Development

Contact details

Telephone extension: 36411

Email address: E.D.G.Fraser@leeds.ac.uk

Room: 10.118

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Biography

Research Interests:My research interests focus on food security and sustainable agriculture in a world buffeted by major environmental and economic changes. Specifically, I am interested in the resilience of community food systems in light of climate change and economic globalization, and how farm management responds to these different types of risks. Thus far, I have focused on case studies in North America, South East Asia, and Central America, and have studied how increased trade in agricultural commodities affects farm management and how this in turn affects the environment. Finally, I am interested in how community participation can meet these challenges and result in both social and environmental benefits.

Previous Positions: As a postdoctoral research associate I worked under Canada's former minister of foreign affairs, Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, and academics Dr. Peter Dauvergne and Dr. Olav Slaymaker on research / policy relating to environmental issues at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia. During this time I co-authored six environmental policy briefs for senior Canadian politicians, including the Prime Minister of Canada, the Privy Council of Canada, and the Minister of the Environment.

Educational Background: With a B.A. in Anthropology, an M.Sc. in Forestry, and a Ph.D. in environmental studies (thesis on sustainable agriculture) I have developed a multi-disciplinary background that has allowed me to use both qualitative and quantitative tools to asses the social and environmental impact of global change on regional food systems. Environmental Management Experience: Concurrent with post-graduate research I participated in a number of environmental management projects in Canada and abroad. This included fieldwork on forestry, fisheries and wildlife in Northern Canada, soil science in Western Canada, tropical silviculture in Central American and community development/project management in South East Asia. I am currently working on an urban agriculture project in Sri Lanka and a project that will assess the social impact of forestry activities in Mozambique.

Areas for PhD Supervision:

1. Environmental / food / society interactions, specifically looking at vulnerability to environmental change.

2. Global environmental change and land use, specifically how it relates to adaptability, resilience and vulnerability.

3. The sustainability, resilience and robustness of agri-food systems. Adaptation to climate change in urban or rural systems with an emphasis on food and livelihoods.

Publications

Clay, GD; Worrall, F; Fraser, EDG (2010) Compositional changes in soil water and runoff water following managed burning on a UK upland blanket bog, J HYDROL, 380(1-2), pp135-145. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.10.030

Clay, GD; Worrall, F; Fraser, EDG (2009) Effects of managed burning upon dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil water and runoff water following a managed burn of a UK blanket bog, J HYDROL, 367(1-2), pp41-51. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2008.12.022

Fraser, EDG; Stringer, LC (2009) Explaining agricultural collapse: Macro-forces, micro-crises and the emergence of land use vulnerability in southern Romania, GLOBAL ENVIRON CHANG, 19(1), pp45-53. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2008.11.001

Clay, GD; Worrall, F; Clark, E; Fraser, EDG (2009) Hydrological responses to managed burning and grazing in an upland blanket bog, J HYDROL, 376(3-4), pp486-495. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.07.055

Chapman, DS; Termansen, M; Quinn, CH; Jin, NL; Bonn, A; Cornell, SJ; Fraser, EDG; Hubacek, K; Kunin, WE; Reed, MS (2009) Modelling the coupled dynamics of moorland management and upland vegetation, J APPL ECOL, 46(2), pp278-288. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2009.01618.x

Reed, MS; Bonn, A; Slee, W; Beharry-Borg, N; Birch, J; Brown, I; Burt, TP; Chapman, D; Chapman, PJ; Clay, G; Cornell, S; Fraser, EDG; Holden, J; Hodgson, J; Hubacek, K; Irvine, B; Jin, N; Kirkby, MJ; Kunin, W; Moore, O; Moseley, D; Prell, C; Quinn, C; Redpath, S; Stagl, S; Stringer, LC; Termansen, M; Thorp, S; Towers, W; Worrall, F (2009) The future of the uplands., Land Use Policy, 26, pp202-216.

Simelton, E; Fraser, EDG; Termansen, M; Forster, PM; Dougill, AJ (2009) Typologies of crop-drought vulnerability: an empirical analysis of the socio-economic factors that influence the sensitivity and resilience to drought of three major food crops in China (1961-2001), ENVIRON SCI POLICY, 12(4), pp438-452. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2008.11.005

Suckall, N; Fraser, EDG; Cooper, T; Quinn, C (2009) Visitor perceptions of rural landscapes: A case study in the Peak District National Park, England, J ENVIRON MANAGE, 90(2), pp1195-1203. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2008.06.003

Rimas, A; Fraser, EDG (2008) Beef: The untold story of how milk, meat and muscle shaped the world, New York: Harper Collins/William Morrow.

Bradford, J; Fraser, EDG (2008) Local authorities, climate change and small and medium enterprises: identifying effective policy instruments to reduce energy use and carbon emissions, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15, pp156-172. doi:10.1002/csr.151

Fraser, EDG; Termansen, M; Sun, N; Guan, D; Simelton, E; Dodds, P; Feng, K; Yu, Y (2008) Quantifying socioeconomic characteristics of drought-sensitive regions: Evidence from Chinese provincial agricultural data, CR GEOSCI, 340(9-10), pp679-688. doi:10.1016/j.crte.2008.07.004

Holden, J; Shotbolt, L; Bonn, A; Burt, TP; Chapman, PJ; Dougill, AJ; Fraser, EDG; Hubacek, K; Irvine, B; Kirkby, MJ; Reed, MS; Prell, C; Stagl, S; Stringer, LC; Turner, A; Worrall, F (2007) Environmental change in moorland landscapes, EARTH-SCI REV, 82(1-2), pp75-100. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.01.003

Fraser, EDG; Hubacek, K (2007) International dimensions of landuse change, In: Karl Steininger and Mario Cogoy (Ed) The Economics of Global Environmental Change: International Cooperation for Sustainability, Edward Elgar, pp1-20.

Fraser, EDG (2007) Travelling in antique lands: using past famines to develop an adaptability/resilience framework to identify food systems vulnerable to climate change, CLIMATIC CHANGE, 83(4), pp495-514. doi:10.1007/s10584-007-9240-9

Fraser, EDG; Termansen, M; Sun, N; Guan, D; Feng, K; Yu, Y (2007) Using past climate variability to understand how food systems are resilient to future climate change, In: W. Zollitsch (Ed) Sustainable Food Production and Ethnics, Wageningen Academic, pp139-145.

Reed, MS; Fraser, EDG; Dougill, AJ (2006) An adaptive learning process for developing and applying sustainability indicators with local communities, ECOL ECON, 59(4), pp406-418. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.11.008

Fraser, EDG; Dougill, AJ; Mabee, WE; Reed, M; McAlpine, P (2006) Bottom up and top down: Analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management, J ENVIRON MANAGE, 78(2), pp114-127. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2005.04.009

Mabee, WE; Fraser, EDG; McFarlane, PN; Saddler, JN (2006) Canadian biomass reserves for biorefining, APPL BIOCHEM BIOTECH, 129(1-3), pp22-40.

Fraser, EDG (2006) Crop diversification and trade liberalization: Linking global trade and local management through a regional case study, AGR HUM VALUES, 23(3), pp271-281. doi:10.1007/s10460-006-9005-5

Fraser, EDG (2006) Food system vulnerability: Using past famines to help understand how food systems may adapt to climate change, ECOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY, 3(4), pp328-335. doi:10.1016/j.ecocom.2007.02.006

Dougill, AJ; Fraser, EDG; Holden, J; Hubacek, K; Prell, C; Reed, MS; Stagl, S; Stringer, LC (2006) Learning from doing participatory rural research: Lessons from the Peak District National Park, J AGR ECON, 57(2), pp259-275.

Stringer, LC; Dougill, AJ; Fraser, E; Hubacek, K; Prell, C; Reed, MS (2006) Unpacking "participation" in the adaptive management of social ecological systems: A critical review, ECOL SOC, 11(2), .

Fraser, EDG; Mabee, W; Figge, F (2005) A framework for assessing the vulnerability of food systems to future shocks, FUTURES, 37(6), pp465-479. doi:10.1016/j.futures.2004.10.011

Reed, M; Fraser, EDG; Morse, S; Dougill, AJ (2005) Integrating methods for developing sustainability indicators to facilitate learning and action, ECOL SOC, 10(1), .

Morse, S; Fraser, EDG (2005) Making 'dirty' nations look clean? The nation state and the problem of selecting and weighting indices as tools for measuring progress towards sustainability, GEOFORUM, 36(5), pp625-640. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.10.005

Mabee, W; Fraser, EDG; Slaymaker, O (2004) Evolving ecosystem management in the context of BC resource planning, BC Journal of Ecosystems and Management, 4(1), pp1-11.

Fraser, EDG (2004) Land tenure and agricultural management: Soil conservation on rented and owned fields in southwest British Columbia, AGR HUM VALUES, 21(1), pp73-79.

Fraser, EDG; Mabee, W (2004) Researching the Secure City: looking to build a preliminary framework, Canadian Journal of Urban Research, 13(1), pp89-99.

Fraser, EDG; Mabee, W; Slaymaker, O (2003) Mutual vulnerability, mutual dependence - The reflexive relation between human society and the environment., GLOBAL ENVIRON CHANG, 13(2), pp137-144. doi:10.1016/S0959-3780(03)00022-0

Fraser, EDG (2003) Social vulnerability and ecological fragility: Building bridges between social and natural sciences using the Irish Potato Famine as a case study, CONSERV ECOL, 7(2), .

Fraser, EDG (2003) Water Wars: Cooperation or Conflict?, Alternatives (Boulder), 29(2), pp34-35.

Fraser, EDG; Mabee, W (2002) Summit: vague answers to well-known problems?, NATURE, 418(6900), pp817-817. doi:10.1038/418817a

Fraser, EDG (2002) Urban Ecology in Bangkok, Thailand: community participation and urban agriculture and forestry, Environments, 30(1), pp37-49.

Fraser, EDG; Kenney, A (2000) Cultural factors and landscape history affecting perceptions of the urban forest, Journal of Arboriculture, 26(2), pp107-113.

Fraser, EDG (Accepted) The house is both empty and sad: vulnerability, environmental change, economic disruption and the Irish Potato Famine, In: Richard J.T. Klein, Anthony Patt, Anne de la Vega-Leinert, & Dagmar Schröter (Ed) Vulnerability Assessment for Policy and Decision-Making, Earthscan, pp1-20.