Faculty and Academic Staff
Kenneth Genskow
Associate Professor*
"My interests address issues of environmental planning and policy, watershed planning, and collaborative and participatory approaches to resource management. My research and applied work have explored the evaluation and assessment of collaborative watershed management, watershed governance, and the effectiveness of educational and technical assistance programs on land management."
Aslıgül Göçmen
Assistant Professor*
"My primary research and teaching interests are in the areas of urban environmental sustainability, the role of planners in promoting environmental stewardship, and the application of spatial analysis and geographic information science and systems in urban, environmental and regional planning."
Harvey M. Jacobs
Professor
"My current interests focus on (1) the rise and impact of the private property rights (anti-environmental) movement in the U.S., especially as it exemplifies social conflict over competing concepts of property rights, (2) the transformation of private property as a social and legal institution in western Europe, and (3) the development of peri-urban (urban fringe) land policy for developing countries. Overall I am interested in the social content of land use and environmental policy, and in how debate over such policy serves as a proxy for more fundamental social discourse."
James LaGro
Professor
"My interests include land use change, landscape ecology, and the spatial analysis of landscape fragmentation in the United States. My research in Wisconsin has examined the conversion of prime farmland to residential development, the land use impacts of local onsite sewage disposal system policies, and the effects of subdivision ordinances on land development patterns. I teach courses in urban planning and design, and landscape architecture."
David W. Marcouiller
Professor and Chair*
"My research, teaching, and outreach programs examine economic linkages and public policies that address the nexis between natural resource management and community development. In addition, my work examines the role and impact of outdoor recreation and tourism in the multi-functionality of rural landscapes. Long-standing interests include resource dependency, forestry issues, and rural amenity-driven residential developmnet with particular focus on resulting tradeoffs and alternative land use compatibilities. In addition, I have worked with various regional economic and social models to assess the impacts of policy and economic change in rural areas."
Alfonso Morales
Associate Professor
"My research analyzes the social organization and institutional context of entrepreneurship. The research context is the street market and the business organizations and households found in markets and other non-retail means of earning income. My work analyzes the social, political and economic processes that produce street-level businesses. My research was inspired by pragmatist theory and an interest in public policy. I pursue this interest in the social organization and institutional context of entrepreneurship through three interrelated strands of research: Decision-making in Organizational and Institutional Context; Transformations of Self and Society, and Entrepreneurship in Organizational, Institutional and Policy Context. My research webpage is openair.org."
Brian Ohm
Professor*
"My research, teaching, and outreach efforts relate to the institutional and legal framework for managing community growth and change. I am particularly interested in the need to revise and update state enabling laws that govern local planning, the impact of local laws on "new urbanism", and the "takings" issue. I lend my expertise to a variety of governmental and private organizations."
Kurt Paulsen
Associate Professor
"My research and teaching focuses on urban land use change, comprehensive planning and housing. The majority of my research in land use seeks to understand the causes and consequences of land use change and to evaluate planning, governance, and institutional processes to manage and shape spatial patterns. I have also more recently focused research on understanding housing as a land use issue, asking questions of exclusion and affordability."
Adjuncts
Spencer Black
Adjunct
"I am thoroughly enjoying teaching. The chance to return to URPL and teach future resource professionals has been great. I've been especially impressed by the enthusiasm of the students. Having spent my professional career working to protect our environment, the opportunity to share my experience with a new generation that will be responsible for resource policy in the future is deeply satisfying."
Dave Cieslewicz
Adjunct
Dave Cieslewicz served as mayor of Madison from 2003 until 2011. Before serving as mayor, he was cofounder and first executive director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, the state's leading land use and transportation policy advocacy organization. Earlier in his career he worked for State Rep. Spencer Black, who now also teaches at URPL, and for the Wisconsin Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Dave has taught a number of courses on the UW campus, including "Introduction to the City", "The Politics & Policy of Green Urbanism" and "Advanced Public Management." He taught two short courses in URPL when he was mayor. He's a 1981 graduate of the UW where he was a political science major. Dave and his wife Dianne live in the Regent neighborhood with their dog Calvin. Twice a month you'll find him playing the venerable German card game Sheepshead at the Memorial Union.
* Also serves as State Extension Specialist with UWEX Division of Cooperative Extension