Dr. Erika S. Svendsen is a research social scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station. Erika studies environmental stewardship as it relates to governance, social resilience, and human well-being. Her work includes understanding the spatial, temporal and socio-political aspects of stewardship. She recently co-authored a book on Civic Engagement and Environmental Stewardship: How Planting Trees Strengthens the Roots of Democracy.
Erika is a recipient of 2007 EDRA/Places Award for Living Memorials National Research: 9-11 and the Public Landscape. She has received the 2009 Forest Service Chief’s Award for engaging urban America and the 2012 Early Career Scientist Station Award recognizing her co-development of STEW-Map, a tool for mapping stewardship groups in terms of their characteristics, distributions and relationships.
Erika is also the Team Leader for the NYC Urban Field Station, a unique partnership between the U.S. Forest Service, NYC Department of Recreation and Parks and their cooperators. The NYC Urban Field Station is a space to conduct research, cultivate ideas, and foster collaboration among scientists and practitioners focused on urban ecological and social issues.
Erika is a graduate of Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
