Broadly, my research addresses questions of social-ecological system (SES) complexity, the emergence of sociocultural and biophysical elements within SESs, and the interactive processes linking these elements, but from the unique, and often neglected, perspective of the people living within these complex systems. My expertise lies in the study of local environmental knowledge (LEK), also referred to as traditional or indigenous knowledge, and how this knowledge is used to sustain livelihoods and households in rural southern and east Africa. I am interested in how people use their LEK, grounded in multi-scalar, historic and contemporary political, economic, and cultural contexts, to respond and adapt to on-going social and ecological changes, and how their actions, in turn, change the environment. As an ecological anthropologist, I continue a tradition of innovative and interdisciplinary research that is data-grounded but ethnographic, and complementary to work done by colleagues on systems modelling, land use and resource management and conservation, and climate change resilience. Recently, my interests have expanded to think about LEK in the US context; where and how we learn LEK, differences in LEK based on personal experiences/surrounding culture/access to nature, and how we use our LEK. My research deepens our theoretical understanding of human contributions to, and maintenance of, the biodiversity and ecosystem services upon which all life depends. In the Anthropocene, this knowledge is increasingly important as we approach planetary limits of land use and freshwater scarcity, and mitigate those boundaries already crossed like biodiversity loss and global climate change. In the applied arena, my work addresses issues of household well-being, resource management and governance, species conservation, human-wildlife conflict, and adaptation to global climate change.

Dr. Shaffer is also the Faculty Advisor for ENSP Culture and Environment, for more information on the concentration please visit: https://ensp.umd.edu/concentrations/culture-environment

ORCID: 0000-0002-0635-0576  
 

Selected Publications:

• Accepted. Michaelis, AK*, DW Webster, and LJ Shaffer. The practice of everyday oystering: aquaculture as resistance? Journal of Political Ecology.
• Accepted. Van Den Heever, L, LJ Thompson, W Bowerman, H Smit-Robinson, LJ Shaffer, R Harrell, and MA Ottinger. Exploring the role of vultures at the human-wildlife-livestock disease interface: an African perspective. Journal of Raptor Research: Special Issue on African Vulture Conservation
• 2020. Michaelis, AK*, WC Walton, DW Webster, and LJ Shaffer. The role of ecosystem services in the decision to grow oysters: a Maryland case study. Aquaculture 735633. DOI:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735633
• 2020. Gore, ML, A Hübschle, A Botha, BM Coverdale, R Garbett, RM Harrell, S Krüger, JM Mullinax, LJ Olson, MA Ottinger, H Smit Robinson, LJ Shaffer, LJ Thompson, L van den Heever, and WW Bowerman. A conservation criminology-based desk assessment of vulture poisoning in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area. Global Ecology and Conservation e01076. DOI:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01076
• 2019. Shaffer, LJ, KK Khadka, J Van Den Hoek, and KJ Naithani Human-elephant conflict: a review of current management strategies and future directions. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 6:235. DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00235
• 2017. Shaffer, L.J. Rain Rituals as a Barometer of Vulnerability in an Uncertain Climate. Journal of Ecological Anthropology 19(1). DOI: 10.5038/2162-4593.19.1.1228
• 2017. Shaffer, L.J. An anthropological perspective on the climate change and violence relationship. Current Climate Change Reports (): 1-11. DOI:10.1007/s40641-017-0076-8 
• 2014. Shaffer, L.J. Making sense of local climate change in rural Tanzania through knowledge co-production. Journal of Ethnobiology 34(3): 315-334.
• 2014. Tschakert, P., K. Dietrich, K. Tamminga, E. Prins, J. Shaffer, E. Liwenga, and A. Asiedu. Learning and envisioning under climatic uncertainty: an African experience. Environment and Planning A 46: 1049-1068.
• 2014. Tschakert, P., & L. J. Shaffer. Ingredients for Social-Ecological Resilience, Poverty Traps, and Adaptive Social Protection in Semi-Arid Africa. In Social-Ecological Systems in Transition (pp. 139-156). Springer Japan.
• 2012. Shaffer, L. J. Mobilizing knowledge to build adaptive capacity: lessons from southern Mozambique. In Climate Change and Threatened Communities: Vulnerability, Capacity, & Action. P. Castro, D. Taylor, and D. Brokensha (eds.). Pp. 69-80. Practical Action Publishers, London.
• 2011. Shaffer, L. J. and L. Naiene. Why analyze mental models of local climate change?: A case from southern Mozambique. Weather, Climate and Society 3(4): 223-237.
• 2010. Shaffer, L. J. Indigenous fire use to manage savanna landscapes in southern Mozambique. Fire Ecology 6(2): 43-59.

In the news:

• UMD's SESYNC International Vulture Collaboration Addresses Vulture Poisoning in Southern Africa, a Localized Issue with Global Implications for Disease Control and Biodiversity Conservation (7/15/2020)
• Writing for a Time of Need (4/20/2020)
• Early Adapters: Columbia’s First Residents Discuss Their Choices for an Oral History Project. (March/April 2017)
• People or Parks: The Human Factor in Protecting Wildlife (11/7/13)
• Jerry Jacka from UT San Antonio interviews Jen Shaffer from the UMD (5/26/13)