Laurie  Yung

Contact Information

  • Laurie Yung
  • CHCB 463
  • College of Forestry & Conservation
  • 32 Campus Dr
    Missoula, MT 59812
  • Phone: (406) 243-6934
  • Email: laurie.yung@umontana.edu

Personal Summary

My teaching and research focus on the social aspects of conservation and natural resource management, with an emphasis on agricultural communities and public lands in the Northern Rockies. I’m interested in the ways in which private landowners, rural communities, and land management institutions navigate change. I examine the intersections between ecological change, scientific information, natural resource management, rural livelihoods, and governance innovations. My current work focuses on wildland fire governance, climate adaptation and agriculture, using scenarios in climate decision-making, and the food-energy-water nexus. 

My current research projects include:

  • Improving the Efficacy of Climate and Water Information for Montana Agricultural Producers (funded by USDA NIFA Water for Agriculture program)    
    • For more information see
  • The Co-Management of Cross-Boundary Fire Risk Transmission (funded by the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station)
    • For more information see
  • Scenario Planning as a Tool for Climate Adaptation Planning and Governance (funded by the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station)
  • Natural Resource Management Decision-Making under Climate Uncertainty: Building Social-Ecological Resilience in Southwestern Colorado (funded by the North Central Climate Science Center)
  • Futures Thinking, Uncertainty, and Governance at the Food-Energy-Water Nexus (funded by the Luc Hoffmann Institute)

I currently direct the and majors, and the NSF-funded graduate training program. 

Education

2003: Ph.D. Forestry, Ñý¼§Ö±²¥

1993: M.S. Environmental Studies, University of Oregon

1991: B.A. Psychology and Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Courses Taught

NRSM 326 Climate and Society

NRSM 370S Wildland Conservation Policy and Governance

NRSM 500 Conservation Social Science Methods

NRSM 540 Food-Energy-Water Nexus

NRSM 570 Political Ecology

Research Interests

The Use of Climate Information in Adaptation Decisions

Drought Adaptation on Working Ranchlands

Social and Political Aspects of Climate Adaptation

The Food-Energy-Water Nexus

Wildland Fire Governance

Decision-Making Under Uncertainty and the Efficacy of Futuring Tools

Co-Production and Translational Skills

Interdisciplinary Teaching and Research

Selected Publications

Clifford, K., Yung, L., Rondeau, R., Neely, B., Rangwala, I., Burkhart, N. and C. Wyborn. 2020. . Environmental Management 6:614–628.

Wade, A.A., Grant, A., Karasaki, S., Smoak, R., Cwiertny, D., Wilcox, A.C., Yung, L., Sleeper, K. and A. Anandhi. 2020. . Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 8:11.

Yung, L., Louder, E., Gallagher, L.A., Jones, K. and C. Wyborn. 2019. .  Frontiers in Environmental Science 7:37.

Lubeck, A., Metcalf, A.L., Beckman, C.L., Yung, L. and J.W. Angle. 2019. . Ecology and Society. 24(2):32.

Carr, W.A. and L. Yung. 2018. . Climatic Change 147:119–132

Murphy, D., Yung, L. Wyborn, C. and D. Williams. 2017. USA. Landscape and Urban Planning 167:441-450.

Lawson, D.M., Hall, K., Yung, L. and C.A.F. Enquist. 2017. . Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 15(10):569–577.

Enquist, C.A.F., Jackson, S.T., Garfin, G., Davis, F.W., Gerber, L.R., Littell, J., Tank, J.L., Terando, A., Halpern, B., Hiers, J.K., Morelli, T.L., McNie, E., Stephenson, N.L., Williamson, M.A., Woodhouse, C.A., Yung, L., Brunson, M., Hall, K., Hallett, L.M., Lawson, D.M., Moritz, M., Nydick, K., Pairis, A., Ray,  A.J., Regan, C., Safford, H.D., Schwartz, M.W., and M.R. Shaw. 2017. .  Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 15(10):541–550.

Murphy, D., Wyborn, C., Yung, L., Williams, D.R., Cleveland, C.C., Eby, L.A., Dobrowski, S., and E. Towler. 2016.  . Human Organization 1(75):33-46.

Yung, L., Phear, N., DuPont, A., Montag, J. and D. Murphy. 2015. . Weather, Climate, and Society 7(4): 281-293.

Murphy, D.J., Wyborn, C., Yung, L. and D.R. Williams. 2015. . Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-328. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 24 p.

Yung, L., Chandler. J. and M. Haverhals. 2015. . Invasive Plant Science and Management 8(2): 193-202.

Metcalf, L., Mohr, J., Yung, L., Metcalf, P. & D. Craig. 2015. . Restoration Ecology 23(3):315–324.

Khumalo, L. and L. Yung. 2015. .  Conservation and Society 13(3): 232-243.

Hobbs, R.J, Higgs, E.S., Hall, C.M., Bridgewater, P., Chapin III, F.S., Ellis, E.C., Ewel, J.J., Hallett, L.M., Harris, J.A., Hulvey, K.B., Jackson, S.T., Kennedy, P.L., Kueffer, C., Lach, L., Lantz, T.C., Lugo, A.E., Mascaro, J., Murphy, S.D., Nelson, C.R., Perring, M.P., Richardson, D.M., Seastedt, T.R., Standish, R.J., Starzomski, B.M., Suding, K.N., Tognetti, P.M., Yakob, L. and L. Yung. 2014. . Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 12(10):557–564

Wyborn, C., Yung, L., Murphy, D. and D.R. Williams. 2014.  Regional Environmental Change.

Carr, W., Yung, L. and C. Preston. 2014. . Bulletin of Atomic Scientists 70(3).

Carr, W., Preston, C., Yung, L., Szerszynski, B., Keith, D. and A. Mercer. (in press) . Climatic Change.

Yung, L., Schwarze, S., Carr, W., Chapin III, F.S., and Marris, E. 2013. . In R.J. Hobbs, E.S. Higgs, and C.M. Hall (Eds.) Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in the New Ecological World Order. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Bridgewater, P. and L. Yung. 2013. . In R.J. Hobbs, E.S. Higgs, and C.M. Hall (Eds.) Novel Ecosystems: Intervening in the New Ecological World Order. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Cacciapaglia, M. and L. Yung. 2013. In Stewart, W., Williams, D. and L. Kruger (Eds.) Place-Based Conservation: Perspectives from Social Sciences. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Carr, W., Patterson, M.E., Yung, L., & Spencer, D. 2012. . Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture 6(3):276-299.

Craig, D.R., Yung, L. and W.T. Borrie. 2012. . Conservation and Society 10(3): 232-42

Cacciapaglia, M.S., Yung, L., & Patterson, M.E. 2011. . Society and Natural Resources 25(5):453-467.

Watson, A., Matt, R., Knotek, K., Williams, D., and L. Yung. 2011. . Ecology and Society 16(1):36.

Yung, L., Patterson, M.E., and W.A. Freimund. 2010. . Society and Natural Resources 23(11):1-17.

Cole, D.N. and L. Yung (Eds). 2010. . Washington D.C.: Island Press.

Hobbs, R.J., Cole, D.N., Yung, L., Zavaleta, E.S., Aplet, G.A., White, P.S., Landres, P.B., Chapin III, F.S., Graber, D.M., Higgs, E.S., Millar, C.I., Parsons, D.J., Randall, J.M., Stephenson, N.L., Tonnessen, K.A., and S. Woodley. 2010. . Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 8(9).

Yung, L., Freimund, W.A. and J. Chandler-Pepelnjak. 2008. . International Journal of Wilderness 14(2):14-23.

Yung, L. and M. Haverhals. 2008. . Extension publication by Missoula County and the Ñý¼§Ö±²¥. (pp. 1-16)

Yung, L. and J. Belsky. 2007. . Society and Natural Resources 20(8):689-703.

Yung, L., Freimund, W. and J. Belsky. 2003. . Forest Science 49(6), 855-866.