Current Courses
497.004Capstone Research In Applied Community & Economic Developmnt
103.001Thirsty Society: An Interdisciplinary Examination of Water
103.001Thirsty Society: An Interdisciplinary Examination of Water
Teaching Interests & Areas
Sociology of Natural Resources and Environment Sociology of Community Research Methods
Research Interests & Areas
Environment and natural resource sociology, sociology of community, research methods, demography, watershed health, place attachment. My research and teaching interests center around the interactions between human populations and the environment in which they live. My most recent research activities involve two specific areas of investigation. First, I am working with colleagues at Southern Illinois University on an interdisciplinary investigation of water quality and community capacity for planning and conservation with the overall goal of evaluating and communicating watershed and community health risks in eight subwatershed communities in Southern Illinois. Second, I am working on a social assessment of attitudes, values, and beliefs regarding water quality and watershed management in the Nippersink Creek watershed in Northern Illinois. This project is funded by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IL-EPA) 319 Program.
Book, Chapter
Krannich, Richard S., Peggy Petrazelka, and Joan M. Brehm. 2006. “Social change and well-being in western amenity-growth communities” in The Population of Rural America: Demographic Research for a New Century. Brown, David L. and William Kandel, Eds.
Journal Article
Moshi, H. A., Shilla, D. A., Brehim, J., Kimirei, I., O’Reilly, C., & Loiselle, S. (2023). Sustainable Management of the African Great Lake Coastal Areas: Motivations and Perspectives of Community Citizen Scientists. Environmental Management, 1-15.
Brehm, J. Beyond rules and regulations: understanding the cultural and social significance of beach seine fishery on Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania. MARITIME STUDIES 21.1 (2022): 16.
Brehm, J.M., Bulengela, G. & Onyango, P. Beyond rules and regulations: understanding the cultural and social significance of beach seine fishery on Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania. Maritime Studies 21, 115–130 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-021-00249-8
Bulengela, G., Onyango, P., & Brehm, J. Co-Management in Crisis? Reflections from Beach Management Units (BMUs) of Kigoma Fishing Communities, Tanzania. Journal of Contemporary Sociology 58.1 (2021): 9-46.
Brehm, J. "Bring fishermen at the center": the value of local knowledge for understanding fisheries resources and climate-related changes in Lake Tanganyika. ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY 22.6 (2020): 29.
Technical Report
Brehm, J., & Eisenhauer, B. Maintaining the Health of the Nippersink Creek Watershed: An Evaluation of Phase II Outreach Activities and Community Survey (2014)
Presentations
Beyond Rules and Regulations: Understanding the Cultural and Social Significance of Beach Seine Fishery on Lake Tanganyika. Weathering extremes: African environmental politics in a destabilized world. International Sociological Association Committee on Environment and Society. (2021)
Building the team: Conducting international transdisciplinary team-based research on Lake Tanganyika, East Africa.. Association for the science of Limnology and Oceanography. ASLO. (2021)
Sustainable management of Lake Tanganyika will require transdisciplinary approaches to improve food security. Association for the science of Limnology and Oceanography. ASLO. (2021)
To Adopt or Not: Using Social Science in Watershed Planning to Promote the Adoption of Residential Best Management Practices (BMPs). 30th Annual Nonpoint Source Pollution Conferencve. New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission. (2019)
Teaching Environmental/Natural Resource Classes in These Times. 24th International Symposium of Society and Resource Management. IASNR. (2018)
Attitudes and Motivations of Farmers for Adoption of Best Management Practices for Water Quality. The Nature Conservancy, Alphabet Soup Stakeholders Group. (2017)
Challenges for Predicting Adoption of Residential Best Management Practices (BMPs) for Water Quality in a Midwestern Landscape. International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. International Association for Society and Natural Resources. (2017)
Exploring the power of Agency in fishery: Reflections from fishing communities of Lake Tanganyika, Kigoma, Tanzania. International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. International Association for Society and Natural Resources. (2017)
To Adopt or Not? Revisiting the Complexities of Predicting Adoption of Residential Best Management Practices (BMPS). Utah State University, Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology. (2017)
Water, Water Everywhere: Will There be a Drop to Drink in 20 Years in Bloomington/Normal?. College of Arts and Sciences, Main Street College. CAS. (2017)
Grants & Contracts
Mitigating Future Threats to Biodiversity: The Role of Headwater Streams and Land Management Practices in the Kaskaskia River Watershed. Illinois Innovation Network. State. (2021)
Socio-cultural Drivers to Decline in Fish Catches of the Indian Ocean in Tanzania. Western Indian Ocean Marine Sciences Association, Marine Research Grant Programme. Private. (2021)
Social Assessment of Water Conservation Behaviors Among Farmers in the Lake Bloomington and Evergreen Lake Watersheds. The Nature Conservancy. Private. (2017)
Projections of Climate Change Effects on Lake Tanganyika (CLEAT).. Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA). Other. (2015)
Lakes Bloomington/Evergreen Watershed Social Assessment. Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Federal. (2014)
