Constance McDermott
Connie McDermott is Program Director and Associate Research Scientist for the Yale Program on Forest Policy and Governance.
She has conducted work and research in social forestry, forest certification and forest policy in North and Central America, South Asia, and globally. She completed a B.A. in Anthropology at Amherst College, an M.S. in Social Forestry at the University of Washington, and a doctorate in Forestry at the University of British Columbia. Her dissertation, entitled Personal Trust and Trust in Abstract Systems: A Study of Forest Stewardship Council-Accredited Forest Certification in British Columbia, involves an in-depth analysis of the social dynamics of FSC's development in the province of British Columbia.
McDermott served as the first British Columbia Representative for the FSC-accredited SmartWood Program of the Rainforest Alliance, and has participated as a social assessor in numerous FSC-accredited certification assessments in BC and elsewhere. She has conducted socio-economic monitoring and research in the US, Nepal and Costa Rica and has served as a community forester in Nepal. Her current research focus includes international comparative work, examining domestic, regional and global forest policy and governance.
