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Christopher A Thoms

University of Minnesota, Forest Resources, Post-Doc

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I am a versatile scholar and educator with an unusual breadth of experience and expertise acquired through international work, research, and teaching in higher education.

Currently working in the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota, I am involved in two research projects.

"Alternative futures for the American Residential Macrosystem" is an NSF funded project that examines drivers of and constraints on change to residential landscapes. My role is to analyze existing quantitative and qualitative data, design a survey, and conduct interviews in order to identify and understand drivers of change vs. stabilizing factors in yard management. In particular I focus on homeowner motivations and perceptions of institutional opportunities, constraints and effectiveness, and adaptive strategies.

"Validating, refining, and encouraging the implementation of honey bee Best Management Practices to improve colony health" is a NIFA funded project examining bee colony management and ways to disseminate best practices. For this project I help design survey instruments and interview guides and will use these tools to collect data about beekeeper social networks and their personal motivations and individual cognitive factors related to adoption of BMPs.
Supervisors: Dr. Kristen Nelson
Address: St. Paul, Minnesota, United States

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Columbia University

Donatella Rossi

Pasang Yangjee Sherpa

University of British Columbia

Durham University

Stephen Bezruchka

UW

Mona Chettri, PhD

The University of Western Australia

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Papers by Christopher A Thoms

Book review of 'High Frontiers: Dolpo and the Changing World of Himalayan Pastoralists' by Kenneth Bauer

Himalaya the Journal of the Association For Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 2004

Limitations of Leasehold Forestry for Poverty Alleviation in Nepal

Society & Natural Resources, 2006

Two leasehold forestry case studies reveal potential limitations in the poverty alleviation poten... more Two leasehold forestry case studies reveal potential limitations in the poverty alleviation potential of Nepal's leasehold forestry program. First, even though the program is targeted toward the poorest, nonpoor households can find opportunities to enter leasehold forest user groups. Second, by not raising the incomes and living standards of all households in a group simultaneously, it is possible for leasehold forestry to simply redistribute poverty. These limitations may be problems of implementation, rather than design. If so, it is important for implementing officials to be cautious when forming leasehold forests.

Co-Constructing Community Forests in Nepal: Mutual Constraint in a Transnational Aid Network

Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research, 2011

Community forestry in Nepal vests rights of access, use, exclusion, and management of national fo... more Community forestry in Nepal vests rights of access, use, exclusion, and management of national forestland to local user groups. There is strong potential for community forests to serve as the basis for improving the quality of life and the status of livelihoods in rural Nepal while conserving forest resources. Frequently, community forest user groups are dominated by local elites who choose to close access to community forestland for several years. As a result, forest conditions are improving, but the poorest households bear the cost of strict protection. In this paper I argue that community forestry is thus having rather limited success at improving rural livelihoods. Although community forestry is fairly successful at conservation, there remain huge wealth disparities between community forest member households, limited access to vital forest products, and significant power disparities within community forest user groups. Such conditions of inequity, reinforced by current community forestry policy and practice, severely challenge the development potential of community-controlled natural resources. In Nepal, overcoming these challenges may require a change in policy that mandates more inclusive local decision-making.

Exclusion Isn't Easy: Lessons from a Leasehold Forest

Nepal’s Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project leases forestland to small, organ... more Nepal’s Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project leases forestland to small, organized groups of rural households. Effective community management of forestland requires the capacity to exclude other potential resource claimants. Through institutional analysis of a single leasehold forest case study, we argue that exclusion by small groups is difficult, especially for the poorest of the poor. We recommend ensuring adequate provisions for meeting the forest product needs of the poorest within the context of community forestry as a more effective poverty alleviation and conservation strategy. In addition to community forestry-based forest access, poor farmers need a leasehold program for farmland that would enable food self-sufficiency.

Some Thoughts On the Democratization of Community Forestry in Nepal

Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[... more Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ restricted resource extraction rather than active forest management., but has so far proven less successful as a poverty-alleviation strategy. Community forestry exacerbates inequities in access to, contn)l of, and decision-making about forest resources. 'Nomen often play only token roles, and few user-group governing committees include members from dalit or occupational castes. When such members of traditionally disadvalllaged groups do serve on user group committees, their participation tends to be marginal. In this paper I argue that an institution specifically mealll to increase people's participation on a large scale actually presents opportunities to limit certain people's participation. As a remedy, I argue that new legal instrull1elllS and institutional arrangements must ensure fair distribution of forest benefits and partiCipation in community forest decision-making...

Self -mediated interactions among community forestry actors in Nepal: A political ecology of the UK's Livelihoods and Forestry Programme

Beekeeper stewardship, colony loss, and Varroa destructor management

Ambio, Jan 24, 2018

Varroa (Varroa destructor) is a leading cause of honey bee mortality worldwide. In a U.S. nationa... more Varroa (Varroa destructor) is a leading cause of honey bee mortality worldwide. In a U.S. national survey of beekeepers, 3519 respondents noted what they believe are the advantages and disadvantages of managing for Varroa, what good stewardship means in beekeeping, and whether they treated for Varroa. Dominant attitudes were keeping bees healthy, minimizing disturbance, and monitoring hives. We found a bifurcation in Varroa management beliefs. Decision tree analyses show group distinctions. Treatment Skeptics tend to say that stewardship means bees should not be disturbed or subjected to chemicals, and should be given forage to do their 'normal business.' This group was less likely to treat for Varroa. Treatment Adherents identify themselves as bee stewards and say stewardship means active hive management and keeping bees healthy and alive. Illuminating beekeeper stewardship is essential for a socioecological understanding of how to address challenging Varroa management and ...

Beekeeper stewardship, colony loss, and Varroa destructor management

Ambio, Jan 24, 2018

Varroa (Varroa destructor) is a leading cause of honey bee mortality worldwide. In a U.S. nationa... more Varroa (Varroa destructor) is a leading cause of honey bee mortality worldwide. In a U.S. national survey of beekeepers, 3519 respondents noted what they believe are the advantages and disadvantages of managing for Varroa, what good stewardship means in beekeeping, and whether they treated for Varroa. Dominant attitudes were keeping bees healthy, minimizing disturbance, and monitoring hives. We found a bifurcation in Varroa management beliefs. Decision tree analyses show group distinctions. Treatment Skeptics tend to say that stewardship means bees should not be disturbed or subjected to chemicals, and should be given forage to do their 'normal business.' This group was less likely to treat for Varroa. Treatment Adherents identify themselves as bee stewards and say stewardship means active hive management and keeping bees healthy and alive. Illuminating beekeeper stewardship is essential for a socioecological understanding of how to address challenging Varroa management and ...

Some Thoughts On the Democratization of Community Forestry in Nepal

Himalaya the Journal of the Association For Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 2006

Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ res... more Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ restricted resource extraction rather than active forest management., but has so far proven less successful as a poverty-alleviation strategy. Community forestry exacerbates inequities in access to, contn)l of, and decision-making about forest resources. 'Nomen often play only token roles, and few user-group governing committees include members from dalit or occupational castes. When such members of traditionally disadvalllaged groups do serve on user group committees, their participation tends to be marginal. In this paper I argue that an institution specifically mealll to increase people's participation on a large scale actually presents opportunities to limit certain people's participation. As a remedy, I argue that new legal instrull1elllS and institutional arrangements must ensure fair distribution of forest benefits and partiCipation in community forest decision-making. Towards that end, l consider a st rategy of democrat ization for com munity forestry, and suggest ways that community forest user groups could be organized so that all interests are represented on forest user group committees and engaged in decision-making.

Some Thoughts On the Democratization of Community Forestry in Nepal

Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ res... more Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ restricted resource extraction rather than active forest management., but has so far proven less successful as a poverty-alleviation strategy. Community forestry exacerbates inequities in access to, contn)l of, and decision-making about forest resources. 'Nomen often play only token roles, and few user-group governing committees include members from dalit or occupational castes. When such members of traditionally disadvalllaged groups do serve on user group committees, their participation tends to be marginal. In this paper I argue that an institution specifically mealll to increase people's participation on a large scale actually presents opportunities to limit certain people's participation. As a remedy, I argue that new legal instrull1elllS and institutional arrangements must ensure fair distribution of forest benefits and partiCipation in community forest decision-making. Towards that end, l consider a st rategy of democrat ization for com munity forestry, and suggest ways that community forest user groups could be organized so that all interests are represented on forest user group committees and engaged in decision-making.

Exclusion isn't easy: Lessons from a leasehold forest

by Mukunda Karmacharya and Christopher A Thoms

Introduction to the Special Issue: Organizational Networks and Environmental Governance

by Christopher A Thoms and Charles Benjamin

Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research, Jul 1, 2011

Dissertation: Self-mediated Interactions among Community Forestry Actors in Nepal: A Political Ecology of the UK's Livelihoods and Forestry Programme

“A review of Biersack, Aletta and James B. Greenberg, eds. Reimagining Political Ecology”

Society & Natural Resources, 2008

Biersack and Greenberg offer an interesting collection of ecological anthropology essays that col... more Biersack and Greenberg offer an interesting collection of ecological anthropology essays that collectively provide the reader an introduction to the ''the new ecological anthropology'' (see developed in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s that goes beyond functionalist explanations and homeostatic or equilibrium models of culture. The concepts and new trends addressed in Reimagining Political Ecology center on the poststructuralist, postmodern language turn common throughout the social sciences wherein the focus has turned to representation, meaning, and the discursive formation of society and nature. As an introduction to changing theoretical perspectives in the subfield of ecological anthropology, the book could stand as a solid contribution, and possibly a ''must include'' textbook for graduate courses on ecological anthropology.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Organizational Networks and Environmental Governance

Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research, 2011

Exclusion isn't easy: Lessons from a leasehold forest

Journal of Forest and …, 2003

Nepal's Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project leases forestland to small, ... more

Topographic variation of soil nitrogen dynamics at Walker Branch Watershed, Tennessee.

by Michael A Huston and Christopher A Thoms

Garten, C.T., M.A. Huston, and C. Thoms. 1994. Topographic variation of soil nitrogen dynamics a... more

Community control of resources and the challenge of improving local livelihoods: A critical examination of community forestry in Nepal

Geoforum, 2008

Community forestry in Nepal vests rights of access, use, exclusion, and management of national fo... more Community forestry in Nepal vests rights of access, use, exclusion, and management of national forestland to local user groups. There is strong potential for community forests to serve as the basis for improving the quality of life and the status of livelihoods in rural Nepal while conserving forest resources. Frequently, community forest user groups are dominated by local elites who choose to close access to community forestland for several years. As a result, forest conditions are improving, but the poorest households bear the cost of strict protection. In this paper I argue that community forestry is thus having rather limited success at improving rural livelihoods. Although community forestry is fairly successful at conservation, there remain huge wealth disparities between community forest member households, limited access to vital forest products, and significant power disparities within community forest user groups. Such conditions of inequity, reinforced by current community forestry policy and practice, severely challenge the development potential of community-controlled natural resources. In Nepal, overcoming these challenges may require a change in policy that mandates more inclusive local decision-making.

Topographic variation of soil nitrogen dynamics at Walker Branch Watershed, Tennessee

Page 1. Forest Science, Vol 40, No 3, pp 497-512 Topographic Variation of Soil Nitrogen Dynamics ... more

The potential for ecosystem management in Mexico's forest ejidos

Forest Ecology and Management, 1998

There is a worldwide concern for managing natural resources in ways that are economically viable ... more There is a worldwide concern for managing natural resources in ways that are economically viable and ecologically and socially responsible. Ecosystem management is a recent approach that has been conceptualized to address these concerns. Mexico is stressing the application of this framework for managing its forest lands. A significant portion of Mexico's forests are situated on communally-owned lands called ejidos. Adopting ecosystem management on ejido properties requires special attention to the many unique political, social, cultural and economic aspects of the ownership arrangement. Successful implementation of ecosystem management will require efforts to initiate economic diversification, planning and education programs and administrative and organizational changes. These efforts necessitate significant cooperation and communication between newly-formed government agencies, the ejidos, and technical assistance organizations. Ecosystem management shows promise for adoption if proper attention is given to the unique circumstances concerning Mexico's ejido system. 0 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Book review of 'High Frontiers: Dolpo and the Changing World of Himalayan Pastoralists' by Kenneth Bauer

Himalaya the Journal of the Association For Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 2004

Limitations of Leasehold Forestry for Poverty Alleviation in Nepal

Society & Natural Resources, 2006

Two leasehold forestry case studies reveal potential limitations in the poverty alleviation poten... more Two leasehold forestry case studies reveal potential limitations in the poverty alleviation potential of Nepal's leasehold forestry program. First, even though the program is targeted toward the poorest, nonpoor households can find opportunities to enter leasehold forest user groups. Second, by not raising the incomes and living standards of all households in a group simultaneously, it is possible for leasehold forestry to simply redistribute poverty. These limitations may be problems of implementation, rather than design. If so, it is important for implementing officials to be cautious when forming leasehold forests.

Co-Constructing Community Forests in Nepal: Mutual Constraint in a Transnational Aid Network

Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research, 2011

Community forestry in Nepal vests rights of access, use, exclusion, and management of national fo... more Community forestry in Nepal vests rights of access, use, exclusion, and management of national forestland to local user groups. There is strong potential for community forests to serve as the basis for improving the quality of life and the status of livelihoods in rural Nepal while conserving forest resources. Frequently, community forest user groups are dominated by local elites who choose to close access to community forestland for several years. As a result, forest conditions are improving, but the poorest households bear the cost of strict protection. In this paper I argue that community forestry is thus having rather limited success at improving rural livelihoods. Although community forestry is fairly successful at conservation, there remain huge wealth disparities between community forest member households, limited access to vital forest products, and significant power disparities within community forest user groups. Such conditions of inequity, reinforced by current community forestry policy and practice, severely challenge the development potential of community-controlled natural resources. In Nepal, overcoming these challenges may require a change in policy that mandates more inclusive local decision-making.

Exclusion Isn't Easy: Lessons from a Leasehold Forest

Nepal’s Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project leases forestland to small, organ... more Nepal’s Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project leases forestland to small, organized groups of rural households. Effective community management of forestland requires the capacity to exclude other potential resource claimants. Through institutional analysis of a single leasehold forest case study, we argue that exclusion by small groups is difficult, especially for the poorest of the poor. We recommend ensuring adequate provisions for meeting the forest product needs of the poorest within the context of community forestry as a more effective poverty alleviation and conservation strategy. In addition to community forestry-based forest access, poor farmers need a leasehold program for farmland that would enable food self-sufficiency.

Some Thoughts On the Democratization of Community Forestry in Nepal

Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[... more Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ restricted resource extraction rather than active forest management., but has so far proven less successful as a poverty-alleviation strategy. Community forestry exacerbates inequities in access to, contn)l of, and decision-making about forest resources. 'Nomen often play only token roles, and few user-group governing committees include members from dalit or occupational castes. When such members of traditionally disadvalllaged groups do serve on user group committees, their participation tends to be marginal. In this paper I argue that an institution specifically mealll to increase people's participation on a large scale actually presents opportunities to limit certain people's participation. As a remedy, I argue that new legal instrull1elllS and institutional arrangements must ensure fair distribution of forest benefits and partiCipation in community forest decision-making...

Self -mediated interactions among community forestry actors in Nepal: A political ecology of the UK's Livelihoods and Forestry Programme

Beekeeper stewardship, colony loss, and Varroa destructor management

Ambio, Jan 24, 2018

Varroa (Varroa destructor) is a leading cause of honey bee mortality worldwide. In a U.S. nationa... more Varroa (Varroa destructor) is a leading cause of honey bee mortality worldwide. In a U.S. national survey of beekeepers, 3519 respondents noted what they believe are the advantages and disadvantages of managing for Varroa, what good stewardship means in beekeeping, and whether they treated for Varroa. Dominant attitudes were keeping bees healthy, minimizing disturbance, and monitoring hives. We found a bifurcation in Varroa management beliefs. Decision tree analyses show group distinctions. Treatment Skeptics tend to say that stewardship means bees should not be disturbed or subjected to chemicals, and should be given forage to do their 'normal business.' This group was less likely to treat for Varroa. Treatment Adherents identify themselves as bee stewards and say stewardship means active hive management and keeping bees healthy and alive. Illuminating beekeeper stewardship is essential for a socioecological understanding of how to address challenging Varroa management and ...

Beekeeper stewardship, colony loss, and Varroa destructor management

Ambio, Jan 24, 2018

Varroa (Varroa destructor) is a leading cause of honey bee mortality worldwide. In a U.S. nationa... more Varroa (Varroa destructor) is a leading cause of honey bee mortality worldwide. In a U.S. national survey of beekeepers, 3519 respondents noted what they believe are the advantages and disadvantages of managing for Varroa, what good stewardship means in beekeeping, and whether they treated for Varroa. Dominant attitudes were keeping bees healthy, minimizing disturbance, and monitoring hives. We found a bifurcation in Varroa management beliefs. Decision tree analyses show group distinctions. Treatment Skeptics tend to say that stewardship means bees should not be disturbed or subjected to chemicals, and should be given forage to do their 'normal business.' This group was less likely to treat for Varroa. Treatment Adherents identify themselves as bee stewards and say stewardship means active hive management and keeping bees healthy and alive. Illuminating beekeeper stewardship is essential for a socioecological understanding of how to address challenging Varroa management and ...

Some Thoughts On the Democratization of Community Forestry in Nepal

Himalaya the Journal of the Association For Nepal and Himalayan Studies, 2006

Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ res... more Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ restricted resource extraction rather than active forest management., but has so far proven less successful as a poverty-alleviation strategy. Community forestry exacerbates inequities in access to, contn)l of, and decision-making about forest resources. 'Nomen often play only token roles, and few user-group governing committees include members from dalit or occupational castes. When such members of traditionally disadvalllaged groups do serve on user group committees, their participation tends to be marginal. In this paper I argue that an institution specifically mealll to increase people's participation on a large scale actually presents opportunities to limit certain people's participation. As a remedy, I argue that new legal instrull1elllS and institutional arrangements must ensure fair distribution of forest benefits and partiCipation in community forest decision-making. Towards that end, l consider a st rategy of democrat ization for com munity forestry, and suggest ways that community forest user groups could be organized so that all interests are represented on forest user group committees and engaged in decision-making.

Some Thoughts On the Democratization of Community Forestry in Nepal

Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ res... more Community forestry in Nepal is a fairly successful conservation stt'ategy, largely because o[ restricted resource extraction rather than active forest management., but has so far proven less successful as a poverty-alleviation strategy. Community forestry exacerbates inequities in access to, contn)l of, and decision-making about forest resources. 'Nomen often play only token roles, and few user-group governing committees include members from dalit or occupational castes. When such members of traditionally disadvalllaged groups do serve on user group committees, their participation tends to be marginal. In this paper I argue that an institution specifically mealll to increase people's participation on a large scale actually presents opportunities to limit certain people's participation. As a remedy, I argue that new legal instrull1elllS and institutional arrangements must ensure fair distribution of forest benefits and partiCipation in community forest decision-making. Towards that end, l consider a st rategy of democrat ization for com munity forestry, and suggest ways that community forest user groups could be organized so that all interests are represented on forest user group committees and engaged in decision-making.

Exclusion isn't easy: Lessons from a leasehold forest

by Mukunda Karmacharya and Christopher A Thoms

Introduction to the Special Issue: Organizational Networks and Environmental Governance

by Christopher A Thoms and Charles Benjamin

Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research, Jul 1, 2011

Dissertation: Self-mediated Interactions among Community Forestry Actors in Nepal: A Political Ecology of the UK's Livelihoods and Forestry Programme

“A review of Biersack, Aletta and James B. Greenberg, eds. Reimagining Political Ecology”

Society & Natural Resources, 2008

Biersack and Greenberg offer an interesting collection of ecological anthropology essays that col... more Biersack and Greenberg offer an interesting collection of ecological anthropology essays that collectively provide the reader an introduction to the ''the new ecological anthropology'' (see developed in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s that goes beyond functionalist explanations and homeostatic or equilibrium models of culture. The concepts and new trends addressed in Reimagining Political Ecology center on the poststructuralist, postmodern language turn common throughout the social sciences wherein the focus has turned to representation, meaning, and the discursive formation of society and nature. As an introduction to changing theoretical perspectives in the subfield of ecological anthropology, the book could stand as a solid contribution, and possibly a ''must include'' textbook for graduate courses on ecological anthropology.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Organizational Networks and Environmental Governance

Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research, 2011

Exclusion isn't easy: Lessons from a leasehold forest

Journal of Forest and …, 2003

Nepal's Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project leases forestland to small, ... more

Topographic variation of soil nitrogen dynamics at Walker Branch Watershed, Tennessee.

by Michael A Huston and Christopher A Thoms

Garten, C.T., M.A. Huston, and C. Thoms. 1994. Topographic variation of soil nitrogen dynamics a... more

Community control of resources and the challenge of improving local livelihoods: A critical examination of community forestry in Nepal

Geoforum, 2008

Community forestry in Nepal vests rights of access, use, exclusion, and management of national fo... more Community forestry in Nepal vests rights of access, use, exclusion, and management of national forestland to local user groups. There is strong potential for community forests to serve as the basis for improving the quality of life and the status of livelihoods in rural Nepal while conserving forest resources. Frequently, community forest user groups are dominated by local elites who choose to close access to community forestland for several years. As a result, forest conditions are improving, but the poorest households bear the cost of strict protection. In this paper I argue that community forestry is thus having rather limited success at improving rural livelihoods. Although community forestry is fairly successful at conservation, there remain huge wealth disparities between community forest member households, limited access to vital forest products, and significant power disparities within community forest user groups. Such conditions of inequity, reinforced by current community forestry policy and practice, severely challenge the development potential of community-controlled natural resources. In Nepal, overcoming these challenges may require a change in policy that mandates more inclusive local decision-making.

Topographic variation of soil nitrogen dynamics at Walker Branch Watershed, Tennessee

Page 1. Forest Science, Vol 40, No 3, pp 497-512 Topographic Variation of Soil Nitrogen Dynamics ... more

The potential for ecosystem management in Mexico's forest ejidos

Forest Ecology and Management, 1998

There is a worldwide concern for managing natural resources in ways that are economically viable ... more There is a worldwide concern for managing natural resources in ways that are economically viable and ecologically and socially responsible. Ecosystem management is a recent approach that has been conceptualized to address these concerns. Mexico is stressing the application of this framework for managing its forest lands. A significant portion of Mexico's forests are situated on communally-owned lands called ejidos. Adopting ecosystem management on ejido properties requires special attention to the many unique political, social, cultural and economic aspects of the ownership arrangement. Successful implementation of ecosystem management will require efforts to initiate economic diversification, planning and education programs and administrative and organizational changes. These efforts necessitate significant cooperation and communication between newly-formed government agencies, the ejidos, and technical assistance organizations. Ecosystem management shows promise for adoption if proper attention is given to the unique circumstances concerning Mexico's ejido system. 0 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.