- Associate Professor
Biography
Paul Theirs is a political economist and a political ecologist. His research focuses on interactions between global markets and local governments and ecosystems, looking at sustainable agriculture, global organic marketing and certification, urban growth, renewable energy and climate change policy. Most of his field work has been in rural China and the US Pacific Northwest but he has also worked in the other parts of the world. He teaches courses in comparative politics, environmental policy and the politics of climate change. He works with graduate students in both the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs and in the School of the Environment and on both the Vancouver and Pullman campuses.
Education
- Ph.D Political Science, University of Oregon
- MA Social Science, University of Illinois
- BA, Music History, University of Illinois
Research Interests
Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Environmental Policy, Climate Change, Social Justice, Environmental Justice
Recent Publications
- Ba, Feng, Paul Thiers, and Yonggong Liu. 2018. “The evolution of China’s emission trading mechanisms: From international offset market to domestic Emission Trading Scheme.” Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy. (January, 2018) 21p. doi: 10.1177/2399654417751928
- Finley, Lynn, Paul Thiers, M. Chapelle and James Moore. 2018 “Does organic farming present greater opportunities for employment and community development than conventional farming? A survey-based investigation in California and Washington.” Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. 42(5) 32p. doi: 10.1080/21683565.2017.1394416
- Thiers, Paul, Mark Stephan, Sean Gordon and Alexander Walker. 2017. “Metropolitan Eco Regimes and State Policy Environments: Comparing Environmental Governance in the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Area.” Urban Affairs Review. February 1, 2017 1-34. doi: 10.1177/1078087417693321
- Kline, Jeffrey D., Paul Thiers, Connie P. Ozawa, J. Alan Yeakley, and Sean Gordon. 2014 “How well has land-use planning worked under different governance regimes? A case study in the Portland, OR-Vancouver, WA metropolitan area, USA.” Landscape and Urban Planning Vol. 131 (November, 2014) 51-63.
- H. Chang, P. Thiers, N. R. Netusil, J. A. Yeakley, G. Rollwagen-Bollens, S. M. Bollens, and S. Singh. 2014. “Relationships between environmental governance and water quality in growing metropolitan areas: a synthetic view through the coupled natural and human system lens.” Hydrology and earth System Science, 2014, 18(4) 1383-1395. doi: 10.5194/hess-18-1383-2014