Rate My Professor Jonathan Salerno

Jonathan Salerno is an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at Colorado State University, where he leads the Salerno Lab on human adaptation and environmental change. He investigates how and why individuals and groups adapt to shifts in social and biophysical environments, focusing on human-wildlife conflict, human mobility and land change, climate observation and responses, and cooperative norms in land management. His research integrates social and ecological perspectives, addressing biodiversity conservation and natural resource management in regions such as the American West and East Africa, including Tanzania's Ruaha-Rungwe landscape and western Uganda. Notable projects include the CONIFER initiative on wildfire risk mitigation stakeholder networks and co-direction of the Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence.

Salerno earned a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis in 2015, with a dissertation titled 'Human Behavior and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Systems: Mobility, Livelihoods, and Wildlife Conflict at Multiple Scales.' He also holds an M.S. in Ecology from UC Davis (2012) and a B.A. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and History from the University of Rochester (2002). Prior to joining CSU, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado Boulder from 2016. Salerno has received prestigious awards, including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, J. William Fulbright Student Award, and served as PI or co-I on major NSF grants such as Coupled Natural-Human Systems ($1.6 million) and Decision, Risk, and Management Sciences ($653,000). Key publications include 'Long-term evidence shows that crop-rotation diversification increases agricultural resilience to adverse growing conditions in North America' (One Earth, 2020), 'Conserving large carnivores: dollars and fence' (Ecology Letters, 2013), 'Mobile phone use is associated with higher smallholder agricultural productivity in Tanzania, East Africa' (PLoS ONE, 2020), 'A cross-country analysis of climate shocks and smallholder food insecurity' (PLoS ONE, 2018), and 'Changing perceptions of protected area benefits and problems around Kibale National Park, Uganda' (Journal of Environmental Management, 2017). He has delivered guest lectures at institutions like University of Colorado Boulder and American River College, reviewed for journals including Conservation Biology and PLOS ONE, and mentored PhD students, postdocs, and undergraduates.