School of Social and Political Science

Background

Research experience

UKRI GCRF International ‘South Asian Nitrogen Hub’ (SANH), University of Edinburgh, Scotland

SENIOR POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW, July 2020 - present

• Collabroate and conduct Nitrogen relevant policy based research for South Asia Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, Scotland

ACADEMIC FELLOW, November 2019 – July 2020

• Conducted a critical review of Scottish forestry policy in meeting multiple objectives in support of Scottish Parliament parliamentary business.

EIT Climate KIC FORLAND Restoration project, University of Edinburgh/ ETH Zürich, Edinburgh, Scotland

SENIOR POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW, April 2019 – present

• Co-coordinating research in two case studies in Scotland focused on developing a facilitated approach for supporting forest and land use planning.

LaForeT project: Landscape Forestry in the Tropics, Thünen Institute of International Forestry and Forest Economics, Hamburg, Germany

SENIOR SCIENTIST ON SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, March 2016 to March 2019

• Coordinator of the interdisciplinary analysis of socio-ecological interactions in tropical forest landscapes in Ecuador, the Philippines and Zambia.

Understanding Migration and Remittances to Improve Forest Management Projects & Policies, The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia

CONSULTANT, December 2018 – February 2019

• Provide a review and content analysis of relevant government policies and strategies related to migration and forest management and use in Tajikistan, reviewing the initiatives implemented by GIZ.

EU project; Opportunities and Challenges to Developing REDD+ Benefit Sharing Mechanisms in Developing Countries, The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW, August 2013 – March 2016

• Country coordinator for Vietnam leading research on understanding multi-level forest governance as the context for REDD+ in the upland forest areas in two regions of Vietnam.

DFID Know-For project: trends in migration, urbanization, and remittances and their effects on tropical forests and forest-dependent communities, The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia

POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW August 2013 – March 2016

• Researcher coordinator for migration, urbanization, and remittances and their effects on tropical forests and forest-dependent communities research at CIFOR.

EU-FP7 SPARD project: Spatial Analysis of Rural Development Measures, University of Edinburgh, School of Geosciences, UK

PHD CANDIDATE, April 2010 – June 2013

Peer-reviewed publications

Yang, A.L. (2020) The Multiple Roles of Scottish Woodlands, Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), Research Briefing https://digitalpublications.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefings/Report/2020/9/9/The-Multiple-Roles-of-Scottish-Woodlands-1

Kazungu, M., Zhunusova, E., Yang, A.L., Kabwe, G., Gumbo, D.J., Günter, S. (2020) Forest use strategies and their determinants among rural households in the Miombo woodlands of the Copperbelt Province, Zambia, Forest Policy and Economics,111.

Wong, G.Y., Luttrell. L., Loft, L., Yang, A.L., Thuy, P.T., Naito, D, Assembe-Mvondo, S., Brockhaus M. (2019) The Narratives in REDD+ Benefit Sharing: Examining Evidence Within and Beyond the Forest Sector, Climate Policy

Yang A.L., Bellwood-Howard, I., and Lippe, M. (2018) Chapter 5: Social-Ecological Systems and Forest Landscape Restoration, In: Mansourian S. and Parotta, J., (Eds) Forest Landscape Restoration: Integrated Approaches to Support Effective Implementation, Routledge.

Larson, A.M., Libert Amico, A., Martius, C., Ravikumar, A., Tovar, J.G., Kowler, L.F., Myers, R.; Rodriguez-Ward, D., Sanders, A., Trench, T., Yang, A.L., Deschamps, P.R. (2018) Can multilevel governance transform business-as-usual trajectories driving deforestation? Lessons for REDD+ and beyond, CIFOR Infobrief, no. 235. DOI: 10.17528/cifor/007043

Myers, R., Larson, A.M., Ravikumar, A., Kowler, L.F., Yang, A.L., and Trench, T. (2018) Messiness of forest governance: How technical approaches suppress politics in REDD+ and conservation projects. Global Environmental Change, Global Environmental Change, 50, pp. 314-324

Yang A.L., Phuong V.T., Tien, N. (2017) Analyzing multilevel governance in Vietnam: Lessons for REDD+ from the study of land-use change and benefit sharing in Nghe An and Dien Bien provinces, CIFOR Working Paper, no. 218.

Wong, G.Y., Loft, L., Brockhaus, M., Yang, A.L., Pham, T.T., Assembe‐Mvondo, S. and Luttrell, C. (2017) An Assessment Framework for Benefit Sharing Mechanisms to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation within a Forest Policy Mix, Environmental Policy and Governance, 27(5), pp.436-452.

Loft, L., Le, D.N., Pham, T.T., Yang, A.L., Tjajadi, J.S. and Wong, G.Y., (2017) Whose Equity Matters? National to Local Equity Perceptions in Vietnam's Payments for Forest Ecosystem Services Scheme. Ecological Economics, 135, pp.164-175.

Arwida, S.D., Maharani, C.D., Sijapati Basnett, B., Yang, A.L. (2017) Gender Relevant Considerations for Developing REDD+ Indicators: Lessons Learnt for Indonesia, CIFOR info brief, No.168.

Yang, A.L., Rounsevell, M.D.A., Haggett, C. (2015) Multilevel governance, decentralisation, and environmental prioritisation: how is it working in rural development policy in Scotland? Journal of Environmental Policy and Governance, DOI: 10.1002/eet.1690

Yang, A.L., Rounsevell, M.D.A., Piorr, A., Haggett, C. Wilson, R.M. (2015) The Use of Spatial Econometrics, Stakeholder Analysis and Qualitative Methodologies in the Evaluation of Rural Development Policy, Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management, 17 (02), DOI: 10.1142/S1464333215500234

Hecht, S., Yang, A.L., Sijapati Basnett, B., Padoch, C., Peluso, N. (2015) People in Motion Forests in Transition: Trends in Migration, Urbanization, and Remittances and their Effects on Tropical Forests and Forest-Dependent Communities, CIFOR occasional paper Paper no. 142, DOI: 10.17528/cifor/005762

Trung, L.Q., Phuong, V.T., Yang, A.L., Hai, V.D. (2015) The Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities Affecting Forests, Land Use, And REDD+ across Levels and Sectors in Vietnam: A legal study, CIFOR Occasional Paper no. 137, DOI: 10.17528/cifor/005743

Tjajadi, J.S., Yang, A.L., Naito, D., Dian, S. (2015) Lessons from environmental and social sustainability certification standards for equitable REDD+ benefit-sharing mechanisms, CIFOR Info Brief, No.118.

Yang, A.L., Rounsevell, M.D.A., Wilson, R.M., Haggett, C. (2014) Spatial Analysis of Agri-Environmental Policy Uptake and Expenditure In Scotland, Journal of Environmental Management, 133 (15), pp. 104–115

Yang, A.L., Rounsevell, M.D.A., Wilson, R.M., Haggett, C. (2014) Recentralisation through regionalisation in the implementation of Rural Development Policy in Scotland, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2014.942726