Rate My Professor Matthew Jurjonas

Matthew Jurjonas serves as Assistant Professor of Conservation Social Science in Auburn University’s College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. He holds a B.A. in Ecology and Biodiversity from the University of Denver (2003), an M.S. in Conservation Leadership from Colorado State University and El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (2014), and a Ph.D. in Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management from North Carolina State University (2018). Prior to his current role, Jurjonas worked as a fisheries observer in Alaska, with a watershed restoration group in Colorado, and as a conservation social science consultant in Mexico and the United States. He also served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research and The Nature Conservancy. His research centers on building community resilience to coastal hazards, conservation of socio-ecological systems, and community-engaged research. Jurjonas develops interdisciplinary approaches to engage local communities in building adaptive capacity, mitigating coastal hazards, and addressing natural resource management challenges. He teaches Conservation Planning and People and the Environment.

Jurjonas’s scholarship has earned over 1,300 citations on Google Scholar, demonstrating substantial influence in environmental social science. Key publications include “A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change” (Nature Climate Change, 2021; 821 citations), “Rural coastal community resilience: Assessing a framework in eastern North Carolina” (Ocean & Coastal Management, 2018; 157 citations), “Sea level rise impacts on rural coastal social-ecological systems and the implications for decision making” (Environmental Science & Policy, 2018; 113 citations), “Influences on coastal tourism demand and substitution behaviors from climate change impacts and hazard recovery responses” (Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 2019; 75 citations), “Uncovering climate (in)justice with an adaptive capacity assessment: A multiple case study in rural coastal North Carolina” (Land Use Policy, 2020; 53 citations), and “The perceived ecological and human well-being benefits of ecosystem restoration” (People and Nature, 2024; 23 citations). His work advances resilience, conservation planning, climate justice, and adaptation strategies.