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Maria Nijnik

Staff picture: Maria Nijnik
Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences
maria.nijnik@hutton.ac.uk

The James Hutton Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Scotland UK

Maria Nijnik is a natural resource, ecological and climate change economist who has worked at the Institute since 2002, after a period of postdoctoral research at the Free University, Amsterdam, and Wageningen University, in the Netherlands. She has a PhD in Social Sciences from Wageningen University in co-operation with the University of Victoria in Canada. Also, she has post-graduate qualifications from the Mansholt Institute and the Netherlands Network of General and Quantitative Economics (NAKE), an MSc in Environmental Policy and Management (EPCEM) from the Network of Dutch Universities, and a MSc/Dipl. Engineer’s degree with Distinction in forestry and wood-processing technology. She also has a PhD in Economics from Ukraine, where she is a visiting Professor in Forest Policy and Economics.

Current research interests 

Maria’s work centres on the socio-economic aspects of climate change mitigation, and on land-use and landscape changes, with a particular focus on multifunctional forestry and sustainable resource management and use. This includes work on the institutional aspects and the economics of carbon sequestration, the cost-effectiveness of delivery mechanisms on visual landscape and the role of woodlands in landscape changes, and the evaluation of multiple ecosystem services and PES schemes. Recent research has also focused on public attitudes to landscape changes and human dimensions of global change, and on new institutional economics. The total list of Maria’s publications includes 230 items, and she is a reviewer for international journals, books and tenders.

Ongoing and recent projects

Maria co-ordinates the UK component of the EU COST Action FP0703 - "Expected Climate Change and Options for European Silviculture" (ECHOES); takes a lead on Climate Change Mitigation through forestry-based activities for Europe as a whole (involving 30 countries), and isa Member of the ECHOES Steering and Management Committees.

She coordinated the submission of a FP7 project proposal involving 15 organizations, and has contributed to a number of EU projects and tenders, including VISULANDS, ALTER-NET and REDD-ALERT where she is currently responsible for the stakeholder evaluation module.

She is a member of the Scottish Centre of Expertise on Climate Change, leading on the Costs, Benefits and Trade-offs strand, and is involved in the thematic research on Land Use for Multiple Benefits (WP 3.5) and Evaluation of Ecosystem Services(WP 1.2) within the Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme. Her contribution to the recent RERAD Programme concerned WP 3.8 "Protection and Enhancement of Landscapes and Rural Communities" and the Cross-cutting Theme on Climate Change. A recently completed project on Forestry and Climate Change: a Socio-Economic Perspective, coordinated by Maria and funded by UK Forestry Commission, was the Institute’s contribution to the first National Assessment of Forestry and Climate Change (“Combating Climate Change – A Role for UK Forests”).

Bibliography 

Maria's highlighted publications

  • Examining stakeholder perspectives on multi-functional forests: a multi-national study., Nijnik, M.; Miller, D.R.; Nijnik, A., (2012) Joint SAC/SEPA Biennial Conference in association with Forest Research, The James Hutton Institute and Scottish Natural Heritage "Agriculture and the Environment IX: Valuing Ecosystems: Policy, Economic and Management Interactions", Edinburgh, 3-4 April 2012.

Maria's most recent publications

  • Afforestation and reforestation projects in South and South-East Asia under the Clean Development Mechanism: trends and development opportunities., Nijnik, M.; Halder, P., (In press) Land Use Policy.
  • Accounting for uncertainties and time preference in economic analysis of tackling climate change through forestry Carpathians., Nijnik, M.; Pajot, G., (In press) Climatic Change.
  • Analysing socio-economic opportunities of British forests to mitigate climate change: with a particular focus on Scotland., Nijnik, M.; Pajot, G.; Moffat, A.; Slee, B., (In press) Forest Policy and Economics.
  • Policy recommendations of the EU FP0703 COST Action (ECHOES) - "Climate Change and Options for European Silviculture", socio-economic component of the climate change mitigation workstream., Nijnik, M., (2012) Recommendations of the EU FP0703 COST Action (ECHOES) - "Climate Change and Options for European Silviculture".
  • Expected Climate Change and Options for European Silviculture (ECHOES)., Mason, B.; Nijnik, M.; Ray, D.; Broadmeadow, M.; Slee, B., (2010) European Commission COST Action FP 07 03 - Country Report: the United Kingdom, ECOFOR, Paris.
  • Social dimension of sustainable resource development., Nijnik, M.; Bradford, K., (2010) The Forestry Chronicle, September-October, p564.
  • Stakeholder attitudes to multi-functional forests in Europe., Nijnik, M.; Nijnik, A.; Lundin, L.; Staszewski, T.; Postolache, C., (2010) Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, 19, 341-358.
  • Accounting for uncertainties and time preference in economic analysis of tackling climate change through forestry., Nijnik, M.; Pajot, G., (2010) IUFRO Scientific Proceedings, Uncertainties and GHG Inventories, IIASA, Vienna, Austria
  • COST action FP0703 - Expected Climate Change and Options for European Silviculture (ECHOES). STSM report: United Kingdom., Soloviy, I.; Nijnik, M., (2010) COST Action Secretariat, ECOFOR, Paris.
  • Integrating analytical and participatory techniques for planning the sustainable use of land resources and landscapes., Miller, D.R.; Vogt, N.; Nijnik, M.; Brondizio, E.; Fiorini, S., (2009) In: Planning Support Systems: New Methods and Best Practice: Advances in Spatial Science (eds. S.C.M. Geertman and J. Stillwell). Springer, New York, pp317-345. ISBN: 978-1-4020-8951-0
  • Forestry and climate change: A socio-economic perspective., Nijnik, M.; Bebbington, J.; Pajot, G.; Slee, B., (2009) In: Combating Climate Change - a role for UK forests. An Assessment of the Potential of the UK?s Trees and Woodlands to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change, (eds. Read, D., Freer-Smith, P.H., Morison, J., Hanley, N., West, C., Snowdon, P. and Broadmeadow, M. ). The Stationery Office, Edinburgh.
  • Challenges and opportunities for sustainable development in the Ukrainian Carpathians., Nijnik, M.; Nijnik, A.; Soloviy, I., (2009) Mountain Research Initiative, Bern University, Switzerland, April, pp20-26.
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