• Michele Romolini, University of Vermont
• Advisor: J. Morgan Grove

As demonstrated in many studies, mostly in rural settings, successful resource management requires collaboration among many groups. This is likely to be even more pronounced in densely settled urban areas. Cities generally consist of many fragmented land parcels under different types of use and ownership, which produces a large and diverse group of stakeholders with an interest in resource management decisions. Past research has shown that 1) natural resource stewardship organizations play an important role in both managing natural resources and building social capital; 2) successful outcomes often rely on effective collaborations through organizational networks; 3) there are different types of network structures; and 4) the effectiveness of a network can depend on its structure. However, missing from the field is empirical research analyzing how natural resource stewardship networks impact social and ecological outcomes, both spatially and temporally.
 
Building on pioneering work on urban stewardship groups in New York City, this study will assess the stewardship networks in Seattle and Baltimore. More specifically, it will examine whether the network structure affects social and ecological outcomes; and conversely, whether variation in social and ecological conditions affects the resulting social network.
 
Methods will include social network analysis of data from a organizational network survey. The network data will be compared to existing social and ecological datasets (e.g. education, income, existing tree canopy, water quality, etc.) at the neighborhood level. The following research questions are proposed:

• What network relationships exist between environmental stewardship groups in Baltimore? In Seattle?
• What is the spatial structure of these stewardship networks?
• Does network structure affect social and ecological outcomes?
• Does variation in social and ecological conditions affect the resulting network?
• How do the stewardship networks in Baltimore and Seattle compare?