Education:
M.S. Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech, 2018
B.S. Forestry, University of Montana, 2013
B.S. Parks, Tourism & Recreation Management, University of Montana, 2013
Biography:
As an undergraduate at the University of Montana, I completed dual degrees focused on forest and recreation resource management along with a minor in wildlife biology, and I conducted independent research on the motivations of big game poachers in Montana. I spent ten field seasons working in natural resources with the US Forest Service in Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska; the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources; and the University of Alaska in positions ranging from wildland fire, forestry and timber management to trail work, visitor education, and wilderness recreation. Throughout these experiences I realized the integral, but often overlooked, role that people play in the use, management, and sustainability of natural resources. I was thrilled to find a graduate research opportunity at Virginia Tech that explicitly focused on the science of human dimensions of natural resources. My thesis research was part of a larger multi-disciplinary project studying the social-ecological dynamics of rangelands in the Southern Great Plains. Specifically, I focused on how and why land ownership change relates to grassland conversion to woodlands. As a Research Associate at Virginia Tech, my current work examines the human dimensions of invasive grass management among agricultural producers in the Northern Great Plains.
Research Interests:
- How people connect with and relate to their environment through sense of place, relational values, and ecosystem services
- Social-ecological dynamics of ecosystem transformations and the emergence novel ecosystems
- Balancing environmental conservation with the sustainability of natural resource-based livelihoods
- Private-public partnerships in ecosystem-based management
- Balancing outdoor recreation use with resource protection
Current Projects:
- Producer perspectives of invasive grasses in the Northern Great Plains:
- How preferences for ecosystem services relate to the acceptability and management of invasive grasses
- Social-psychological drivers of Kentucky bluegrass management
- Understanding heterogeneity in land ownership as a driver of land cover change in the Southern Great Plains
- The place meanings and dependencies that create private landowners’ sense of place
- How variations in sense of place relate to thresholds for woody plant encroachment
- Social-psychological drivers of landowners’ woody plant management behaviors
- Individual and structural factors contributing to landowners’ use of prescribed fire
Past Projects:
- Evaluating the visitor experiences of millennials in Virginia State Parks
- Examining factors that influence recreation users’ willingness to pay for access to Virginia State Forests
- Poaching in Montana: The Importance and Implications of Game Wardens’ Perceptions of Poachers, Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Davidson Honors College, University of Montana.
Publications:
Rajala, K., Sorice, M.G. and Thomas, V.A., 2020. The meaning (s) of place: Identifying the structure of sense of place across a social–ecological landscape. People and Nature, 2(3).
Rajala, K. F. (2019). Ecosystem Transformation Across a Changing Social Landscape: Landowner Perceptions and Responses to Woody Plant Encroachment. (Master’s thesis, Virginia Tech).
Sorice, M. G., Rajala, K., & Kreuter, U. P. (2018). Understanding Management Decisions of Absentee Landowners: More Than Just Presence-Absence. Rangeland Ecology & Management. , 71(2), 159-162.