Sarah Trainor

page last updated: 23 June 2010

Portrait of Sarah Trainor

Curriculum Vitae in PDF

Sarah Fleisher Trainor
School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences
3352 College Road, Fairbanks, AK 99709
(907) 474-7878 voice
sarah.trainor@alaska.edu

Professional Experience

  • Research Assistant Professor and Stakeholder Liaison, Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning June 2007 - present. University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Communicate and interface with stakeholders and the general public for this UA funded program that provides geographically explicit scenarios of climate change in Alaska. Generate funding and conduct research related to human-dimensions of climate change in Alaska. Organize and lead stakeholder partnership meetings and workshops.
  • Coordinator, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy September 2006 - present. University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Generate funding and conduct research related to human-dimensions of climate change in Alaska. Interface with scientists and stakeholders to meeting climate information needs. Organize and moderate monthly Alaska Climate webinars. Organize and lead stakeholder partnership meetings. Maintain program website and publicity.
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, Institute of Arctic Biology. October 2003 - September 2006. University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Social scientist on an interdisciplinary team analyzing the human-fire interactions in the Alaska-Yukon boreal forest. Research focus on impacts and interactions between fire policy and management, rural communities, climate change and changes in ecosystem services from fire disturbance. Coordinated and integrated research team meetings.
  • Associate Chair, Lecturer and Research Associate, Environmental Studies Program. September 2002 – July 2003. The University of Chicago. Taught Environmental Policy & Decision-Making (ES 280) and Environmental Philosophy & Ethics (ES 247). Mentored students and directed senior theses. Lead and organized graduate environmental studies seminar. Developed program resources including web-site. Administered student fellowship and internship grants. Planned and organized program lectures and events.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Energy and Resources 2002. University of California, Berkeley: Berkeley, California
  • M.A. in Energy and Resources 1998. University of California, Berkeley: Berkeley, California
  • B.A. in Philosophy and Environmental Studies. Magna cum laude 1992. Mount Holyoke College: South Hadley, Massachusetts
  • International Honors Program: Global Ecology 1990-1991. Bard College: Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

Honors

Phi Beta Kappa
inducted Mount Holyoke College 1992
Sigma Xi, Scientific Honorary Society inducted Mount Holyoke College 1992

Research Interests

Communicating scientific information to inform planning and decision making in climate change adaptation and natural resource management. Human dimensions of global change in the arctic and northern latitudes. Interdisciplinary assessment of ecosystem services related to global change and mixed subsistence economies in rural Alaska. Vulnerability and adaptation of northern communities to climate change.

Funding Awards Granted

  • Joint Fire Sciences Program 2010. Wildland Fire Science Delivery and Outreach in Alaska, PI. $423,561
  • Joint Fire Sciences Program 2009. Wildland Fire Science Delivery and Outreach in Alaska, PI. $159,000
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Program Office, Coping with Drought Initiative, 2009. Evaluation of Fire Forecast Products to Enhance U.S. Drought Preparedness and Response, Co-PI (0.5 month/year). $143,585
  • U.S. Forest Service, 2009. Assessing the Impact of Climate Change in Alaska: Current Trends and Future Projections for Forests, Co-PI (0.9 month/year) $80,00
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Program Office, Coping with Drought Initiative, 2008. Improving Seasonal Fire Predications and Information Services in Alaska for Regional and National Fire Resource Planning, Co-PI (0.5 month/year). $143,585
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Program Office, Coping with Drought Initiative, 2008. Local and Indigenous Climate Knowledge Network: Addressing Drought Vulnerability and Adaptation, Co-PI (0.5 month/year) $87,501
  • Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, 2006-2009. Functional Biodiversity Effects on Changing Ecosystem Processes, Ecosystem Services and Sustainability in the Americas: an Interdisciplinary Approach. Contributor (0.5 month/year)

Professional Membership And Service

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Association of American Geographers
  • International Society for Environmental Ethics

Publications

Journal Articles

  • S. F. Trainor, F. S. Chapin, III, A. D. McGuire, M. Calef, N. Fresco, M. Kwart, P. Duffy, A. L. Lovecraft, T. S. Rupp, L. DeWilde, O. Huntington, D. D. Natcher, 2009. Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate-Related Fire Impacts in Rural and Urban Interior Alaska. Polar Research 28:100-118.
  • S. F. Trainor. 2008. Finding Common Ground: Moral Values and Cultural Identity in Early Conflict over the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Journal of Land, Resources, and Environmental Law. Volume 28: (2), 331-359.
  • F. S. Chapin III, S. F. Trainor, O. Huntington, A. L. Lovecraft, E. Zavaleta, D. C. Natcher, A. D. McGuire, J. Nelson, L. Ray, M. Calef, N. Fresco, H. Huntington, T. S. Rupp, L. DeWilde, R. Naylor, 2008. Increasing Wildfire in Alaska’s Boreal Forest: Causes, Consequences, and Pathways to Potential Solutions of a Wicked Problem, 58:531-540. Bioscience.
  • D.C. Natcher, O. Huntington, H. Huntington, F. S. Chapin III, S. Trainor and L. DeWilde, 2007. Notions of Time and Sentience: Methodological Considerations in Arctic Climate Change Research. Arctic Anthropology, Volume 44(2) : 115-129.
  • S. F. Trainor, F.S Chapin III, H.P. Huntington, G. Kofinas, D.C. Natcher. 2007. Arctic Climate Impacts: Environmental Injustice in Canada and the United States. Local Environments: International Journal of Justice and Sustainability. 12:6, 627-643.
  • Natcher, D. C., M. Calef, O. Huntington, S. Trainor, H. P. Huntington, L. DeWilde, S. Rupp and F. Stuart Chapin III 2007. Factors Contributing to the Cultural and Spatial Variability of Landscape Burning by Native Peoples of Interior Alaska. Ecology and Society 12 (1): 7. [online]URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art7/
  • F. S. Chapin, III, A. L. Lovecraft, E. S. Zavaleta, J. Nelson, M. D. Robards, G. P. Kofinas, S. F. Trainor, G. Peterson, H. Huntington, R. L. Naylor, 2006. Policy Strategies to Address Sustainability of Alaskan Boreal Forests in Response to a Directionally Changing Climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(45) (November 2006): 16637 – 16643.
  • H. P. Huntington, S. F. Trainor, D. C. Natcher, O. H. Huntington, L. DeWilde and F. Stuart Chapin III, 2006. The Significance of Context in Community-Based Research: Understanding Discussions about Wildfire in Huslia, Alaska. Ecology and Society 11 (1): 40. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art40/
  • F. S. Chapin, III, M. Robards, H. P. Huntington, J. F. Johnstone, S. F. Trainor, G. P. Kofinas, R. W. Ruess, N. Fresco, D. C. Natcher, T. N. Hollingsworth, and R. L. Naylor. Directional Changes in Ecological Communities and Social-Ecological Systems: A Framework for Prediction Based on Alaskan Examples, 2006. American Naturalist, 168 (S6): S36-S49.
  • S. F. Trainor, 2006. Realms of Value: Conflicting Natural Resource Values and Incommensurability. Environmental Values, 15: 3-29.
  • S. F. Trainor and R. B. Norgaard. (1999). Recreation Fees in the Context of Wilderness Values, Journal of Parks and Recreation Administration, 17 (3): 101-116.

Book Chapters And Book Reviews

  • S. F. Trainor, A. Godduhn, L. K. Duffy, F. S. Chapin III, D. C. Natcher, G. Kofinas, H. P. Huntington, 2009. Environmental Injustice in the Canadian Far North: Persistent Organic Pollutants and Arctic Climate Impacts. Chapter 8 in Concepts of Environmental Justice in Canada, U.B.C. Press. J. Agyeman, R. Haluza-Delay, P. Cole and P. O’Riley, Eds, pp. 144-162.
  • S. F. Trainor, (2003) Utah's Wild Canyons: Potential for Knowledge, Growth and Reconciliation. Book Review of Landscape of Desire, Identity and Nature in Utah's Canyon Country. H-Net Humanities and Social-Sciences On-Line, http://www.h-net.msu.edu.
  • R. B. Norgaard, A. J. Scholz, and S. F. Trainor. (2001). “Values, Valuation, and Valuing Processes.” In Economic Growth and Valuation of the Environment, edited by Ekko van Ierland, Jan van der Straaten and Herman R. J. Vollebergh. Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 151-169.

Recent Presentations And Technical Reports

  • S. F. Trainor. Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in Alaska: Indigenous Perspectives and University Collaborations. Presentation at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.. April 14-18, 2010. Also panelist for A Deeper Sense of Place: New Geographies of Indigenous-Academic Collaboration.
  • D. Atkinson. M. Black, J. Cherry, B. Connor, A. Elconin, J. B. Gamble, A. Holman, L. Hopkins, J. L. Hulsey, M. Lee, G. Magee, R. Pawlowski, R. Perkins, T. S. Rupp,W. Schnabel, S. F. Trainor, S. Weaver, R. Weis, D.White, X. Zhang. Decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing Climate. Prepared by the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. Jan. 2010. Available on-line at: http://ine.uaf.edu/accap/documents/DecisionMakingForCommunitiesAtRisk.pdf.
  • S. F. Trainor, Editor. Interior Issues Council Climate Change Task Force Preliminary Vulnerability Assessment Report. January 10, 2010.
  • S. F. Trainor. Adapting to Climate Change in Alaskan Communities. Community forum and presentation at Climate Change Adaptation Workshop. Organized and hosted by Coastal Training Program Kachemak Bay Research Reserve and the Alaska Marine Conservation Counsil. Homer, Alaska. Feb 17 & 18, 2010.
  • S. F. Trainor. Climate Change and Fire in Alaska. Presentation for Stakeholder Workshop, Climate Change Observations in Rural Interior Villages. International Arctic Research Center. Februrary 16, 2010.
  • S. F. Trainor, T.S. Rupp, K. A. Murphy, J. L. Allen, E. A. Miller, R. R. Jandt, D. L. Olson, C. A. Kolden. Wildland Fire Science Delivery and Outreach in Alaska. Poster. Association of Fire Ecology, 4th International Fire Congress, Nov 30 – Dec. 4, 2009. Savanna, GA.
  • S. F. Trainor. Climate Impacts in Alaska. Presentation at the Native People’s Native Homelands Workshop, Lake Prior, MN. November 19, 2009.
  • S. F. Trainor. Tools for Community Scenario Planning. Presentation for the Alaska Community-Based Climate Change Adaptation Outreach Program Development Workshop. Organized by Alaska Sea Grant and Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. November 17, 2009.
  • D. White and S. F. Trainor. Climate Change, What’s the Big Deal?. Presentation for the Ocean Science Lecture Series at the Alaska Sea Life Center. Sponsored by the Alaska Sea Life Center and the National Park Service Ocean Alaska Science Learning Center. November 9, 2009.
  • S. F. Trainor. Communicating Fire Science Information. Presentation for and facilitation of Alaska Fire Science Consortium Workshop Inaugural Meeting. October 16, 2009.
  • S. F. Trainor. Alaska Fire Science Consortium. Presentation at the 2009 Annual Fall Fire Review, Fairbanks, AK. October 15, 2009.
  • Contributor. A RISA community vision for future Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) efforts to match advances in climate impacts science with the needs of resource managers and planners. L..W. Binder and C. Simpson, Co-editors. July 2009.
  • S. F. Trainor. Climate Change 101 presented to Cooperative Extension Service State Advisory Council. Fairbanks, AK. Oct. 2, 2009.
  • S. F. Trainor, C. Anderson, D. Ferguson, G. Garfin. Climate Change, Water Impacts, and Indigenous Peoples: Engaging Native Knowledge in Cross-Regional Comparison between Alaska, the Pacific Islands, and the American Southwest. American Water Resources Association Spring Specialty Conference on Managing Water Resources Development in a Changing Climate. Anchorage, Alaska, May 4 – 6, 2009. Also session moderator.
  • D. White, T.S. Rupp, S. F. Trainor. Climate Change 101 Workshop presented to the US Environmental Protection Agency Alaska Office, Anchorage Alaska. April 1, 2009.
  • S. F. Trainor, Science Communication, Vulnerability Assessment, and Adaptation Planning for Climate Change in Alaska. Inland Northwest Research Alliance, Fairbanks, AK, March 6, 2009.
  • S. F. Trainor, Gongmei Yu, John Walsh. Towards Predicting the Impact of Climate Change on Tourism:
  • An Efficient Tourism Climate Index. Park Science in the Arctic, National Park Service. October 15, 2008.
  • S. F. Trainor, F. S. Chapin, III, A. D. McGuire, M. Calef, N. Fresco, M. Kwart, P. Duffy, A. L. Lovecraft, T. S. Rupp, L. DeWilde, O. Huntington, D. D. Natcher. Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate-Related Fire Impacts in Rural and Urban Interior Alaska. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Arctic Division, Fairbanks, AK, September, 17 2008.
  • S. F. Trainor. Co- organizer and convener. Native Elder’s Panel, Climate Language and Indigenous Perspectives Conference. Fairbanks, AK, August 13-15, 2008. (http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/clip/)
  • S. F. Trainor, L. Kaplan. Siḷam Irrusia: Interpreting Climate Change in Iñupiaq. Climate Language and Indigenous Perspectives Conference. Fairbanks, AK, August 13-15, 2008. Presentation.
  • S. F. Trainor, F. S. Chapin, III. H. Huntington, D.C Natcher, G. Kofinas. Arctic Climate Impacts and Response: Environmental Injustice in Canada and the United States. Association of American Geographers, Boston, MA, April 15-19, 2008. Presentation.
  • S. F. Trainor. Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples II: Working with Animal Nations. Association of American Geographers, Boston, MA, April 15-19, 2008. Session Chair.
  • S. F. Trainor. Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples III: Scientific, Historical and Indigenous Perspectives. Association of American Geographers, Boston, MA, April 15-19, 2008. Organizer.
  • S. F. Trainor. Taking the "Voodoo" out of Science: Improving Stakeholder-Science Communications. Association of American Geographers, Boston, MA, April 15-19, 2008. Panelist.
  • S. F. Trainor. Workshop leader, organizer and convener. Planning and Preparing for Climate Change in Northwest Alaska. Kotzebue, AK, November 19-20, 2007.
  • S. F. Trainor. Climate Change and Adaptation, Meeting the Challenge. Alaska Municipal League Annual Meeting. Fairbanks, AK. November 9, 2007.
  • S. F. Trainor, D. White, J. Walsh, C. Gerlach. Alaska Climate Information Products . Climate Information, Responding to User Needs, Oct. 22-23, 2007, College Park, MD. Poster Presentation.

Specialized Training

  • Moderator Training, National Issues Forum, Sponsored by Alaska Common Ground, this training provided theory and practice in moderating and recording civic dialogue and democratic deliberation. 3/08
  • Alaska Native Perspectives on Western Science and Environmentalism Training in the similarities and differences in assumptions, epistemologies and world views of these three groups. Emphasis on cross-cultural communication, problem-solving, conflict mediation and cultural diversity. 8/05
  • Facilitating and Mediating Effective Environmental Agreements, Concur, Inc., Berkeley, CA. Training and simulation exercises in: designing negotiation strategy, conflict assessment and stakeholder analysis, two-party negotiation, issue framing, crafting and ratifying ground rules, multi-party mediation, joint fact finding, and ratification of agreements. 11/99

University Teaching

  • Ethics & Society (PS 300), Adjunct Faculty Political Science Department, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 1/05-5/05
  • Environmental Philosophy and Ethics (ENST 280), Lecturer. Environmental Studies Program, The University of Chicago. 3/03-6/03
  • Environmental Policy and Decision-Making (ENST 247), Lecturer. Environmental Studies Program, The University of Chicago. 1/03-3/03
  • Environmental Philosophy and Ethics (ESPM 161), Graduate Student Instructor. Environmental Science Policy and Management; University of California, Berkeley. 8/00-12/00, 8/96-12/96
  • Masters Seminar (ER 292), Graduate Student Instructor. Energy and Resources Group; University of California, Berkeley. 8/00-12/00
  • American Environmental and Cultural History (ESPM 160), Graduate Student Instructor. Environmental Science Policy and Management; University of California, Berkeley. 8/99-12/99, 8/98-12/98
  • Racism, Poverty and Environmental Justice (PHIL 77), Teaching Assistant/ Service Learning Internship Coordinator, Ethics and Society Program; Stanford University. 2/99-6/99