Michael Schoon is a professor in Arizona State University's School of Sustainability, focusing on policy and governance in sustainable systems. His dissertation work at Indiana University's Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis focused on transboundary conservation and Peace Parks in southern Africa, which won the American Political Science Association’s best dissertation award. His current work on collaborative governance across a variety of environmental dilemmas in Arizona combines multiple methodological approaches and looks at how adaptive institutional arrangements affect social-ecological outcomes. He is active in the complexity and resilience research communities and in IUCN’s transboundary conservation specialists group.
Education
Joint Ph.D. Public Policy, School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Department of Political Science, Indiana University. Dissertation Chair – Dr. Elinor Ostrom. 2008
M.B.A. Strategy and Operations, minor in International Business and Entrepreneurship, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University 1999
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona 1993
B.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Arizona 1993
Michael Shoon's ongoing research builds on his doctoral work, focusing at a theoretical level on cross-boundary collective action dilemmas and at a practical level on the design of collaborative governance arrangements that transcend political borders and putting them into effect on the ground. The goal is to push toward a generalizable theory of cross-border, cross-scale governance and link this back to large-scale environmental management. In the process, he tries to understand how to implement these cross-border governance arrangements and collaborative efforts, create institutional robustness or long-enduring institutional arrangements, and understand how to design sustainable systems in coupled social-ecological environments. Professor Schoon pursues this research agenda through four ongoing programs. First, he leads a project at the local and regional level in the Arizona borderlands that uses social network analysis and spatially-explicit institutional analysis to help develop a better understanding of cross-border governance, focusing on environmental management issues in the face of regional climate changes and the ongoing border crisis – impacts that cross political boundaries. The second spoke in the research plan brings together common-pool resource scholars with leading international regime researchers in the study of large-scale commons to see how both sets of theories scale up and down. In this, he leads a research team that is in the process of coding cases and building a database to enable statistical analysis and combine quantitative and qualitative analyses to examine cross-scale environmental governance. A third research program uses agent-based modeling to study the effects of environmental management with multiple objectives in a network of linked habitats. Fourth, he continues to collaborate with researchers in southern Africa on a number of large-scale conservation/development projects in the region with a focus on governance across borders and collaboration in general.
Publications
Books
Biggs, Oonsie, Maja Schluter and Michael Schoon (eds.). 2015. Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (Percentage contribution: equal division, 33%)
Vasilijevic, Maja, Kevan Zunkel, Michael Schoon, Matthew McKinney, Boris Erg, and Tanya Rosen Michel. 2015. Transboundary Conservation: A Global Guide, Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines on Transboundary Conservation, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. (%age contribution: equal division, 20%)
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (S) = student paper
Schoon, M., York, A., Sullivan, A., & Baggio, J. 2017. The emergence of an environmental governance network: the case of the Arizona borderlands. Regional Environmental Change, 17(3), 677-689. (%age contribution: equal author, 25%)
(S) Taggart-Hoge, Tanya and Michael Schoon. 2016. “The challenges and opportunities of transboundary cooperation through the lens of the East Carpathians Biosphere Reserve”, Ecology and Society 21 (4): 2. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Barreteau, O., D. Giband, M. Schoon, J. Cerceau, F. DeClerck, S. Ghiotti, T. James, V. A. Masterson, R. Mathevet, S. Rode, F. Ricci and C. Therville. 2016. “Bringing together social-ecological system and territoire concepts to explore nature-society dynamics”, Ecology and Society 21 (4): 42. (%age contribution: 1 of 3 lead authors, 20%)
Chai, Ying and Michael Schoon. 2016. “Configurations of Local Institutions and the Decentralization of Irrigation Management in China”, International Journal of the Commons 10 (1): 21-44. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Ban, N. C., L. S. Evans, M. Nenadovic and M. Schoon. 2015. Interplay of multiple goods, ecosystem services, and property rights in large social-ecological marine protected areas. Ecology and Society 20 (4):2. (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Schoon, Michael and Sander van der Leeuw. 2015. “The Shift toward Social-Ecological Systems Perspectives: Insights into the Human-Nature Relationship”, Natures Sciences Sociétés 23 (2): 166-174. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Ban, Natalie, Emily Boyd, Michael Cox, Chanda Meek, Michael Schoon, Sergio Villamayor-Tomas. 2015. “Linking classroom learning and research to advance ideas about social-ecological resilience”. Ecology and Society 20 (3): 35. (%age contribution: equal division, 18%)
Green, Olivia, Ahjond Garmestani, Sandra Albro, Natalie Ban, Adam Berland, Caitlin Burkman, Mary Gardiner, Lance Gunderson, Matthew Hopton, Michael Schoon, William Shuster. 2015. “Adaptive Governance to Promote Ecosystem Services in Urban Green Spaces”, Urban Ecosystems 19: 77-93. (%age contribution: 10%)
Cumming, Graeme, Craig Allen, Natalie Ban, Duan Biggs, Harry Biggs, David Cumming, Alta de Vos, Graham Epstein, Michel Etienne, Kristi Maciejewski, Raphael Mathevet, Christine Moore, Mateja Nenadovic and Michael Schoon. 2015. “Understanding Protected Area Resilience: a Multi-Scale, Social-Ecological Approach”, Ecological Applications 25 (2): 299-319. (%age contribution: 10%)
Milkoreit, Manjana, Chanda Meek, Michele-Lee Moore, and Michael Schoon. 2015. “Resilience Scientists as Change Makers - Growing the Middle Ground Between Science and Advocacy?”, Environmental Science and Policy 53: 87-95. * Featured as a Research Highlight in Nature Climate Change (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Epstein, Graham, Chanda Meek, Irene Pérez, Michael Schoon. 2014. “Governing the Invisible Commons: Ozone regulation and the Montreal Protocol”, under review with International Journal of the Commons. 8(2): 337-360. (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Evans, Louisa, Natalie Ban, Michael Schoon, Mateja Nenadovic. 2014. “Explaining the Great in the Great Barrier Reef: The GBR Marine Park as a large-scale social-ecological system”, International Journal of the Commons. 8(2): 396-427. (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Norström, A. V., A. Dannenberg, G. McCarney, M. Milkoreit, F. Diekert, G., Engström, R. Fishman, J. Gars, E. Kyriakopoolou, V. Manoussi, K. Meng, M., Metian, M. Sanctuary, M. Schlüter, M. Schoon, L. Schultz and M. Sjöstedt. 2014.
“Three necessary conditions for establishing effective Sustainable Development Goals in the Anthropocene”. Ecology and Society 19 (3): 8. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol19/iss3/art8/ (%age contribution: 10%)
Schoon, Michael, Kehinde Salau, Jacopo Baggio, and Marco Janssen. 2014. “Insights for Managers from Modeling Species Interactions across Multiple Scales in an Idealized Landscape”, Environmental Modelling and Software 54: 53-59. * Featured on the www.conservationcorridors.org web digest (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Schoon, Michael L. 2013. “Governance Structures in Transboundary Conservation: How Institutional Evolution Influences Cross-Border Cooperation”, Conservation and Society 11(4): 420-428.
(S) Childs, Cameron, Abigail York, Dave White, Michael Schoon, and Gita Bodner. 2013. “The Emergence of Adaptive Co-Management in the Agua Fria Watershed, Arizona, USA”, Ecology and Society 18 (4): 11. (%age contribution: equal division, 20%)
Norström AV, Dannenberg A, McCarney G, Milkoreit M, Diekert F, Engström G, Fishman R, Gars J, Kyriakopolou E, Manoussi V, Meng K, Metian M, Sanctuary M, Schlüter M, Schoon M, Schultz L, Sjöstedt M. 2013. “Social change vital to sustainability goals: a Response to Griggs and colleagues”, Nature 498 (7454): 299. (%age contribution: 5-10%)
Schoon, Michael L. and Michael E. Cox. 2012. “Understanding Disturbances and Responses in Social-Ecological Systems”. Society and Natural Resources 25(2): 141-155. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Salau, Kehinde, Michael Schoon, Jacopo Baggio and Marco Janssen. 2012. “Varying Effects of Connectivity and Dispersal on Interacting Species Dynamics”, Ecological Modeling 242: 81-91. (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Biggs, R. et al. 2012. “Toward Principles for Enhancing the Resilience of Ecosystem Services”, Annual Review of Environment and Resources 37: 421-48. (%age contribution: equal division, 10%)
Baggio, Jacopo, Kehinde Salau, Marco Janssen, Michael Schoon, and Orjan Bodin. 2011. “Landscape Connectivity and Predator-Prey Population Dynamics ”, Landscape Ecology 26 (1): 33-45. (%age contribution: equal division, 20%)
Schoon, Michael L., and Abigail M. York. 2011. "Cooperation across Boundaries: The Role of Political Entrepreneurs in Environmental Collaboration", Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research 3 (2): 113-123. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Robards, Martin, Michael Schoon, Chanda Meek, and Nathan Engle. 2011. “The Importance of Social Drivers in the Resilient Provision of Ecosystem Services”, Global Environmental Change 21 (2): 522-529. (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Schoon, Michael L., Christo Fabricius, Marty Anderies, and Margaret Nelson. 2011. “Synthesis: Vulnerability, Traps, and Transformations – Long Term Perspectives from Archaeology”, Ecology and Society 16 (2): 24. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss2/art24/. (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Biggs, D., R. Biggs, V. Dakos, R. J. Scholes and M. Schoon. 2011. “Are We Entering an Era of Concatenated Global Crises?”, Ecology and Society 16 (2): 27. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss2/art27/
York, Abigail and Michael Schoon. 2011. “Collective Action on the Western Range: Coping with External and Internal Threats”, International Journal of the Commons 5 (2): 388-409. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%) http://www.thecommonsjournal.org/index.php/ijc/article/view/286/228
York, Abigail and Michael Schoon. 2011. “Collaboration in the Shadow of the Wall: Shifting Power in the Borderlands”, Policy Sciences 44: 345-365. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Dressler, Wolfram, Bram Buscher, Michael Schoon, Dan Brockington, Tanya Hayes, Christian Kull, James McCarthy, and Krishna Streshta. 2010. “From Hope to Crisis and Back Again? A Critical History of the Global CBNRM Narrative”, Environmental Conservation 37 (1): 1-11. (%age contribution 1 of 3 lead authors, 25%)
Cox, James, Elinor Ostrom, James Walker, Jamie Castillo, Eric Coleman, Robert Holahan, Michael Schoon, and Brian Steed. 2009. "Trust in Private and Common Property Experiments", Southern Economics Journal 75 (4): 957-975. (%age contribution: 10%)
Büscher, Bram and Michael L. Schoon. 2008. “Competition over Conservation: Governance, the State and Negotiating Transfrontier Conservation”, Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy 12 (2): 33-59. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Janssen, Marco A., Michael L. Schoon, Katy Borner, and Weimao Ke. 2006. "Scholarly Networks on Resilience, Vulnerability, and Adaptation", Global Environmental Change 16 (3): 240-52. (%age contribution: 1 of 2 leads, 40%)
Book Chapters
Schoon, Michael, Maja Vasilijevic, and Boris Erg. 2015. “Definition and Typology of Transboundary Conservation”. In Vasilijevic, Maja, Kevan Zunkel, Michael Schoon, Matthew McKinney, Boris Erg, and Tanya Rosen Michel. Transboundary Conservation: A Global Guide, Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines on Transboundary Conservation, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. (%age contribution: equal division, 33%)
McKinney, Matthew and Michael Schoon. 2015. “Transboundary Conservation Governance”. In Vasilijevic, Maja, Kevan Zunkel, Michael Schoon, Matthew McKinney, Boris Erg, and Tanya Rosen Michel. Transboundary Conservation: A Global Guide, Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines on Transboundary Conservation, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Zunkel, Kevan, Tanya Rosen, and Michael Schoon. 2015. “The Establishment and Management of Transboundary Conservation Initiatives”. In Vasilijevic, Maja, Kevan Zunkel, Michael Schoon, Matthew McKinney, Boris Erg, and Tanya Rosen Michel. Transboundary Conservation: A Global Guide, Best Practice Protected Area Guidelines on Transboundary Conservation, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. (%age contribution: equal division, 33%)
Biggs, Oonsie, Maja, Schluter, and Michael Schoon. 2015. “The Resilience Approach: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems” In Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems, edited by Oonsie Biggs, Maja Schluter and Michael Schoon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (%age contribution: equal division, 33%)
Schoon, Michael, Martin Robards, Chanda Meek, Nathan Engle, and Katrina Brown. 2015. “Politics and the Selection of Ecosystem Services”. In Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems, edited by Oonsie Biggs, Maja Schluter and Michael Schoon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (%age contribution: equal division, 20%)
Schoon, Michael, Martin Robards, Chanda Meek, and Victor Galaz. 2015. “Promoting Polycentric Governance Systems”. In Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems, edited by Oonsie Biggs, Maja Schluter and Michael Schoon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (%age contribution: equal division, 25%)
Biggs, Oonsie, Maja, Schluter, Michael Schoon, Martin Robards, and Marty Anderies. 2015. “Building resilience in social-ecological systems: interactions among principles and implications for governance”. In Principles for Building Resilience: Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Social-Ecological Systems, edited by Oonsie Biggs, Maja Schluter and Michael Schoon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (%age contribution: equal division, 20%)
Spenceley, Anna, and Michael L. Schoon. 2007. "Peace Parks as Social Ecological Systems: Testing Environmental Resilience in Southern Africa". In Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution, edited by Saleem Ali. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (%age contribution: equal division, 50%)
Research Activity
White,Dave Douglas*, Abbott,Joshua K, Aggarwal,Rimjhim M, Anderies,John M, Bliss,Nadya T, Eakin,Hallie C, Gober,Patricia, Hanemann,William Michael Micha, Hanemann,William Michael Micha, Johnston,Erik W, Larson,Kelli Leigh, Larson,Kelli Leigh, Maciejewski,Ross, Mack,Elizabeth Anne, Miller,Clark Anson, Pfeiffer,Deirdre A, Quay,Raymond G, Redman,Charles L, Redman,Charles L, Sabo,John L, Sampson,David Arthur, Schoon,Michael L, Turner II,Billie Lee, Turner II,Billie Lee, Vivoni,Enrique, Vivoni,Enrique, Wang,Zhihua, Wentz,Elizabeth Ann, Westerhoff,Paul, Wiek,Arnim, Wutich,Amber Yoder, York,Abigail. DMUU: DCDC III: Transformational Solutions for Urban Water Sustainability Transit. NSF-SBE(9/1/2015 - 8/31/2019).