Marisa A. Rinkus

• PhD Fisheries & Wildlife (Human Dimensions)
• Associate Director at Michigan State University

Epistemic exclusion is a form of scholarly devaluation that studies suggest disproportionately and negatively affects faculty from marginalized groups (e.g., women, people of color). In the present study, we describe the development and initial validation of the Faculty Epistemic Exclusion Scale, a scale designed to measure experiences of epistemic...

The importance of interdisciplinary approaches for research and education in environmental studies and sciences is well known. Integration of the multiple disciplinary approaches taught in separate courses required within these undergraduate majors and minors, however, remains a challenge. Program faculty often come from different departments and d...

Despite institutional efforts, growth in the number of faculty of color has largely plateaued, limiting research innovation and other benefits of diversity. In this article, we seek to understand structural barriers to faculty equity by (a) detailing a theory of epistemic exclusion within academia and (b) applying the theory of epistemic exclusion...

Communication—the conversations, connections, and combinations that bring new insights to complex problems—is at the heart of successful crossdisciplinary collaboration (National Academy of Sciences, Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research and Committee on Science Engineering and Public Policy (NAS), (2004). Facilitating Interdisciplin...

Gender is an explanatory factor in multiple dimensions of conservation, including women's access to and participation in conservation programmes, with gender bias in wildlife research persisting globally. There is reason to believe the current global wildlife crime crisis is no exception , with a lack of critical examination of gendered roles in se...

Workshop Summary:The Toolbox Dialogue Initiative conducted two workshops with Michigan State University faculty on May 4, 2017 and one with administrators on May 24, 2017. The first faculty workshop –“Group 1” in what follows – comprised white faculty, while the second, “Group 2”, comprised faculty of color. The administrator workshop, “Group 3”, c...

Interaction is the distinctive feature of focus groups, yet little attention has been devoted to understanding techniques for enhancing the quality of interactions. We argue that using a quantitative survey instrument with focus groups has specific benefits beyond traditional open-ended topic lists or questions. We describe particular features of a...

Scholars conducting research on either the social or biological dimensions of conservation practice may confront harassment, violence, and sexual assault. While guidelines for researcher safety usually cover the obvious perils encountered while conducting research in nature and with wild animals, less attention has been focused on the dangers assoc...

This paper contributes to the literature regarding gendered patterns of participation in conservation by examining participation in sea turtle conservation and community life in coastal Northeast Brazil. We used a mixed methods approach, comprised of questionnaires and focus groups, and our findings indicate that conservation participation can be p...

Participation in conservation programs is often viewed as a necessity, but understanding of this participation is limited. This research takes a different approach by also examining participation in non-conservation-related activities. Questionnaires (N = 339) were administered in four Brazilian coastal communities where the national sea turtle con...

Collaborative watershed management has been heavily promoted and widely implemented to address a variety of natural resource concerns, resulting in the adoption and adaptation of the approach to management by regulatory agencies. Although several characteristics or indicators of success for watershed partnerships have been identified in the literat...