Environmental sociology, human dimensions of ecosystem management, public opinion and policy, research methods, rural sociology, social psychology

Undergraduate:

• Soc 110-  Social Justice and Policy
• Soc 117 – Social Justice and Policy (Honors)
• Soc 360 –  Environment & Resources
• Soc 465 – Social Values and the Environment (Open to graduate students)

Graduate:

• Soc 465 – Social Values and the Environment,
• Soc 631-  Applied Survey Design and Analysis
• Soc 630 – Environmental Theory

I am an Associate Professor in the Environment and Society Program in the Department of Sociology, a Senior Fellow with the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment and the Center for the Study of Social Justice, and faculty associate with Environmental Studies Program, and Watershed Program at the University of Tennessee. My work examines the human dimensions of environmental change, ecosystem management and environmental policy. I have an interdisciplinary education in the social and natural sciences (Huxley College of the Environment and Washington State University-Environmental Sociology). I co-authored (with Dr. Riley E. Dunlap) a book chapter in the Handbook of Environmental Sociology that helped to establish the conceptual and methodological foundations of environmental concern research. I have worked on funded projects related to the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone, salmon restoration in the Pacific Northwest, water recreation in the Columbia River Basin, hazardous waste management in Washington State and Tennessee, future land-use options at the Oak Ridge Nuclear Reservation in Tennessee, energy-boomtown growth in the West, amenity (“green”) migration and water management issues facing Southern Appalachia, renewable agriculture and GMOs,  urban forestry, the social bases of environmental concern, public support for the environment in the United States and Southern Appalachia, and others related to environmental justice, race and community development. I worked and published the results of many of these projects with graduate students.

• Shefner, J., H. Dahms, R. E. Jones and A. Jaklta (eds.). 2014. Social Justice and the University.  Globalization, Human Rights, and the Future of Democracy. Houndmills Basingstoke:  Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
• Shefner, Jon and Robert Emmet Jones 2014. “Introduction: Social Justice and the University,” In Shefner, J., H. Dahms, R. E Jones and A. Jalata (Eds.). Social Justice andthe University. Palgrave Macmillan, New York (forthcoming).
• Davis, Kim and Robert Emmet Jones, 2014. Predicting Public Support for Urban Forest Protection: Assessing the Utility of Biophysical Indicators. Society and Natural Resources: An International Journal (forthcoming).
• Jones, Robert Emmet, Kim Davis and John Bradford. 2013 The Value of Trees: Factors Influencing Homeowner Support for Protecting Local Urban Trees.” Forthcoming in Environment and Behavior 45(5) 650-676.
• Jones, Robert Emmet and Shirley A. Rainey 2011. Examining Linkages between Race, Environmental Concern, Health and Justice in a Highly-Polluted Community of Color. In S.A, Rainey and G.S. Johnson, Environmental Justice Reader: Addressing the History, Issues Policy and Change. Deer Park, NY, Linus Publications, 99-114.
• Golberger Jessica, Robert Emmet Jones et al.  Barriers and Bridges to the Adoption of Biodegradable Plastic Mulches for U.S. Specialty Crop Production Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (under review).
• Jones, Robert Emmet and Tobin Walton. Behavioral Problems; Conceptual Issues Related to the Study of Pro-environmental Behavior. Presented at the 2013 International Symposium for Resource Management
• Lamphere, Jenna Robert Emmet Jones and Jon Shefner. Public Opinion and Policy on Genetically Modified Foods: Identifying and Comparing Trends in the United States. Presented at the 2010 International Symposium for Resource Management.