Eisenberg, Cristina

Position Type: 
Faculty
Job Title: 
Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence, Maybelle Clark Macdonald Director of Tribal Initiatives in Natural Resources
Department: 
Indigenous Natural Resources Office
Forest Ecosystems & Society
Dean's Office
Phone Number: 
(541) 737-4160
Education: 
Post-doctoral Fellowship, 2013, Oregon State University
Post-doctoral Fellowship, 2012, Oregon State University
PhD, 2012, Oregon State University, College of Forestry (Forestry & Wildlife)
MA, 2006, Prescott College, Arizona (Conservation Biology and Environmental Writing)
Research Areas: 
  • Social Science, Policy and Natural Resources
  • Science of Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Management
  • Silviculture, Fire, Forest Health and Biodiversity
  • Forest Policy Analysis and Economics
  • Integrated Social and Ecological Systems
  • Forest-based Bio-Products
  • Forest, Wildlife and Landscape Ecology
  • Forest Soil and Watershed Processes
Research Interests: 
  • Traditional Ecological Knowledge
  • Fire Ecology
  • Ethnobotany
  • Soil Ecology
  • Wildlife Ecology
  • Restoration Ecology and Ecocultural Restoration
Current research Projects: BLM Pacific Northwest Tribal Conservation Corps Seeds of Success Forest Ecocultural Restoration Project; BLM Fort Belknap Indian Community Grassland Restoration Project; Bison, Elk, Fire, and Wolf Ecology in Aspen and Grassland Communities in Waterton Lakes National Park: A Multi-Trophic Level Landscape-Scale Study
Bio: 
Positionality Statement: I am Latinx and Native American, of mixed Raramuri and Western Apache heritage, and was a first generation student. As a community ecologist, I focus on synergistic solutions to challenging natural resource problems by braiding together and catalyzing the empirical strengths and logic of Scientific Knowledge and the insights and wisdom of Traditional Ecological Knowledge to gain binocular vision, called Two-Eyed Seeing. I am very interested in creating, facilitating, and supporting intercultural collaborative partnerships between Indigenous peoples, Universities such as OSU, Federal agencies, and conservation non-profits that begin by identifying mutual research interests (e.g., a knowledge gap or need), the tools required, and then co-creating research that honors Tribal sovereignty. This results in shared recognition of the value of the research and co-benefits, can build long-term relationships between all involved, and through ecocultural restoration, help create ecosystems more resilient to climate change and related environmental stressors, such as severe wildfires.

Advising

Graduate Major Advisor
Graduate Students: 
Courses Taught: 
  • FES 599 ST
    Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Best Practices for Partnering with Tribal Nations
Selected Publications: 
  1. Eisenberg, C. 2020. “Afterword: Cultural Keystone Species and Traditional Ecological Knowledge on the Northern Plains and Beyond,” In Grace Morgan, Beaver, Bison, Horse: An Indigenous Ecology of the Prairies (Regina, Sask: University of Regina Press).
  2. Aronson, J., Goodwin, N., Orlando, L., Eisenberg, C., & Cross, A. T. 2020. A World of Possibilities: Six Restoration Strategies to support the United Nation's Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Restoration Ecology 28 (4):730-736.
  3. Gann, G., T. McDonald, B. Walder, J. Aronson, C. R. Nelson, J. Jonson, C. Eisenberg, J. G. Hallet, M. R. Guariguata, J. Liu, F. Hua, C. Echeverria, and K. W. Dixon. 2019. International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration. Restoration Ecology (S1):S1-S46.
  4. Eisenberg, C., C. L. Anderson, A. Collingwood, R. Sissons, C. J. Dunn, G. W. Meigs, D. E. Hibbs. S. Murphy, S. Dakin Kuiper, J. SpearkChief-Morris, L. Little Bear, B. Johnston, and C. B. Edson. 2019 Out of the Ashes: Ecological Resilience to Extreme Wildfire, Prescribed Burns, and Indigenous Burning in Ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (7):436.
  5. Eisenberg, C. 2018. “Conserving Biological Diversity,” in pp. 387-404 J. F. Franklin, K. N. Johnson, and D. Johnson, eds., Ecological Forest Management. Chicago: Waveland Press.
  6. McDonald, T., J. Aronson, G. Gann, and C. Eisenberg. 2018. The SER Standards, cultural ecosystems, and the nature-culture nexus – a reply to Evans & Davis. Restoration Ecology 27(2):243-246.
  7. Kirkland, M., C. Eisenberg, Bicerra, A., Bodmer, R. E., Mayor, P., and Axmacher J. C. 2018. Sustainable wildlife extraction by the Kukama-Kukamilla people of the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve, Peru. Oryx: 1-10.
  8. Eisenberg, C. 2018. Foreword. In pp. vii-xii, Paul. A. Colinvaux, Why Big Fierce Animals are Rare: An Ecologist’s Perspective (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).
  9. Chandler, M., S. Rullman, J. Cousins, N. Esmail, E. Begin, G. Venicx, C. Eisenberg, and M. Studer. 2017. Ecological and social outcomes from 7 years of citizen science evaluation: Use of a novel evaluation tool on Earthwatch-supported projects. Biological Conservation 208:163-173.
  10. Eisenberg, C. 2017. The science of open spaces: theory and practice for conserving large complex systems. Ecological Restoration 35(3): 276-277.
  11. Boukili, V. K. S., D. P. Bebber, T. Mortimer, G. Venicx, D. Lefcourt, M. Chandler, and C. Eisenberg. 2017 Assessing the performance of urban forest carbon sequestration models using direct measurements of tree growth. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 24(3):212-221.
  12. Eisenberg, C., D. E. Hibbs, and W. J. Ripple. 2015. Effects of predation risk on elk landscape use in a wolf-dominated system. Canadian Journal of Zoology 93:99-111.
  13. Beschta, R. L., C. Eisenberg, J. Laundre, W. J. Ripple, and T. J. Rooney. 2014. Predation risk, elk, and aspen: tests of a behaviorally mediated trophic cascade in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Comment. Ecology 95(5):2669-2679.
  14. Eisenberg, C., D. E. Hibbs, W. J. Ripple, and H. Salwasser. 2014. Context dependence of elk vigilance and wolf predation risk. Canadian Journal of Zoology 92:727-736.
  15. Eisenberg, C., The Carnivore Way, Coexisting with and Conserving America’s Predators. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2014.
  16. Eisenberg, C., S. T. Seager, and D. E. Hibbs. 2013. Wolf, elk, and aspen food web relationships: Context and complexity. Forest Ecology and Management 299:70-80.
  17. Eisenberg, C., "Quantifying Wildness." in P. Hasbach, and P. Hahn, Eds., Rediscovery of the Wild. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2013.
  18. Seager, S. T., C. Eisenberg, and S. B. St. Clair. 2013. Patterns and consequences of ungulate herbivory on aspen in western North America. Forest Ecology and Management 299:81-90.
  19. Rogers, P., C. Eisenberg, and S. B. St. Clair. 2013. Resilience in quaking aspen: Recent advances and future needs. Forest Ecology and Management 299:1-5.
  20. Eisenberg, C., "Lessons from 763," in T. Fleischner, ed., The Way of Natural History. San Antonio: Trinity University Press, 2011.
  21. Eisenberg, C., The Wolf’s Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades, and Biodiversity. April 2010. Washington, DC: Island Press, 248 p. more info