Dr. Aby Sene-Harper
Assistant Professor, Clemson University
ABY SENE-HARPER
Research Affiliate, she/her
Dr. Aby Sene-Harper, Ph.D. is a conservation social scientist whose research provides empirical data for strategy and policy development to engage historically marginalized communities in the protection and management of cultural and natural resources in parks and protected areas in the US and Sub-Saharan Africa. In the US her work seeks to understand (1) how history and culture mediate African American relationships with nature, and (2) how to better integrate values (social, cultural, economic) relevant to African Americans in the management of protected areas and natural resources in general. In Sub-Saharan Africa, her work centers on the potential of integrated conservation and development approaches (e.g. livelihood projects, ecotourism, community-based conservation) to yield positive and sustainable results for community development and protecting resources within protected areas. Dr. Sene-Harper believes that research methods should be informed by the social contexts and questions at hand. She uses both qualitative (e.g. interviews, focus groups, discourse analysis) and quantitative (e.g. survey questionnaires) methods. She is particularly proficient in qualitative methodology to gain a deeper understanding of marginalized communities and their relationships with nature and protected areas in particular. She was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation-Interdisciplinary Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (NSF-IGERT) fellowship.
Expertise: Plantations, Enslavement & Heritage Tourism, Sustainability & Equity, African American Heritage in Conservation Areas, Intersections of Tourism, Livelihoods and Protected Areas in Sub-Saharan Africa
Contact: ABYH@clemson.edu
Selected Publications