The Integrating Human and Natural Systems Research Work Unit (RWU-4952) provides the knowledge and tools needed by natural resource professionals, policymakers, planners, and citizens to manage effects on and optimize the benefits of human-forest interactions.

The South is one of the most rapidly growing and ethnically diverse regions of the U.S. Its population grew by 14.3 million to 114.6 million people between 2000 and 2010, more than any other region in the country. The South also experienced a growth of 57% in its Hispanic population during this same time period, the largest increase of any region. As a result of these changes, there are critical information gaps about the effects of land use change, climate change, and altered disturbances on human and natural communities, particularly from a multi-disciplinary view that incorporates both social and ecological aspects. 

Athens, Georgia
Forestry Sciences Laboratory
320 Green Street
Athens, GA 30602
Tel: 706-559-4264
Fax: 706-559-4266

Atlanta, Georgia
1720 Peachtree Road, NW
Atlanta, GA 30309
Tel: 404-347-1647
Fax: 352-347-2776

Gainesville, Florida
2306 Mowry Rd, Building 164
P.O. Box 110806
Gainesville, FL 32611
Tel: 352-376-3213
Fax: 352-376-4536

The Unit takes a multi-disciplinary approach to defined problems related to the embeddedness of humans within natural systems. This perspective is supported both by an ecologically-based empiricism and, importantly, by the longstanding demand of natural resource managers, policymakers, and practitioners for land use and management solutions that blend natural and human systems approaches. The Unit’s research spans the rural to urban
continuum, principally across the South but also elsewhere in the nation and internationally.

View our Unit Charter document →