Associate Professor My primary research interests include climate change perceptions and adaptation, management of common-pool resources, and policy and practice related to conservation and sustainability. Along with colleagues at several U.S. and international institutions, I have an NSF-funded Dynamics of Integrated Socio-environmental Systems (DISES) project that is examining linkages between climate change, land management, landscape, and policy to understand how to sustain small-scale pastoral systems in a changing world. The project runs through 2027 and will offer several interdisciplinary training opportunities to graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. At UGA, I am engaged with the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems and the Center for Integrative Conservation Research. I will be accepting PhD students for Fall 2026 whose interests are related to human-environment interactions and climate change. If you are interested in working with me, please send your CV and a brief statement of your research interests (no more than 500 words) via email. Research Research Interests: Political ecology Knowledge co-production Climate change Extreme weather Sea-level rise and coastal populations Common pool resources Interdisciplinary & team science Communication of science Selected Publications Selected Publications: Welch-Devine, M., B.J. Burke, J. Thompson, B. Eppherre, M. Eppherre, P. Jaragoyhen, S. Maraud, H. Rolland, A. Sourdril. 2025. “Layering” co-production for authentic and respectful community engagement. Society and Natural Resources. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2025.2562397 Aliu, J., K. McKay, M. Welch-Devine. B. Bledsoe. 2025. Assessing outcomes of a field-oriented course in natural infrastructure. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-07-2024-0484 Welch-Devine, M., B.J. Burke, J. Thompson, B. Eppherre, M. Eppherre, P. Jaragoyhen, S. Maraud, H. Rolland, A. Sourdril. 2025. Designing research collaboratively: Socioenvironmental systems research in the French Basque Country. Human Organization. 84(2):218-233. Welch-Devine, M. and H. Lazrus. Re-fielding climate change in cultural anthropology. In Anthropology and Climate Change: From transformations to world-making practices. Crate, S. and M. Nuttall, eds. Pp. 47-61. Routledge. Welch-Devine, M., B.J. Burke, C. Steacy, and S. Rzonca. 2022. Environmental change in Southern Appalachia: Local ecological knowledge across residential groups. Ambio. 51:280-290. Welch-Devine, M., A. Sourdril, and B. Burke. (eds). 2020. Changing Climate, Changing Worlds: Local knowledge and the challenges of social and ecological change. Basel, Switzerland: Springer Nature. Welch-Devine, M. and B. Orland. 2020. Is it time to move away? How hurricanes affect future plans. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters. 38(1): 54-76. Rickless, D., X. Yao, B. Orland, M. Welch-Devine. 2019. Assessing social vulnerability through a local lens: An integrated geovisual approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 110(1): 36-55. Full list available here. Education Education: Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Georgia 2008 MS Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development, University of Georgia 2009 Doctorat Ethnologie, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour 2008
