Meet our faculty: Reem Hajjar

Academic focus: Forest governance and livelihoods, community-based natural resource management, social-ecological systems, conservation social science, environmental justice

Research summary: I lead the Forests, Livelihoods, Institutions and Governance (FoLIAGe) Research Group. We study the relationship between forests and livelihoods, and how various governance mechanisms and institutions shape that relationship. Much of our work uses an environmental justice lens to understand how to make forest governance and decision-making processes more just, participatory and effective, and examines how such processes shape forest landscapes and related livelihoods.  

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I’m a big fan of the great outdoors. On any given weekend, you’ll find me hiking, mountain biking, backpacking, trail running, snowshoeing, skiing, etc. I also love to cook, wander city streets and sample street foods and cafes, and on the rare occasion that I’m at a warm coast, I savor lounging at a beach and swimming in the ocean. But one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday morning (pre-hike!) is to curl up with a cup of coffee, a book and my animals.

What brought you to Cornell CALS?

I was hired as part of CALS’ moonshot on environmental justice. I was incredibly excited by the prospect of being able to bring people together from different disciplines and sectors to collectively reimagine what environmentally just futures could look like, and to be able to build an initiative/institute to do the work that can get us on that path.

Why did you feel inspired to pursue a career in this field? 

My first degrees were in biology and conservation biology, where I fell in love with tropical forests and the critters that reside in them. After all that coursework in ecology and natural sciences, I eventually realized that the only way to make sure we continue to have those forests is to better understand humans and society. That took me down the path of learning more about the (often marginalized) people who rely on forests for their livelihoods and well-being, and how the sum of our policies, markets, norms and behaviours shape both forests and livelihoods. The more exposure to those topics I had (in the field and in the literature), I came to understand that a key part of the story includes the historical and ongoing injustices and related power dynamics that are at the root of so many of our environmental and social problems. It took me a while to get there, but now I can’t imagine focusing my career on anything else. 

What advice do you have for students interested in your field of study? 

Don’t fret if you don’t have it all figured out at the start of your degree program. Your interests will meander and evolve with exposure to new ideas. Keep an open mind, read widely, think critically and – like I tell all my students – take courses across departments and disciplines. You’ll find your passions and your path eventually.