Teaching Responsibilities

• NR 5984 – Urban Ecology
• GIA/PSCI 5364 – Public Ecology

Selected Research Activities

• The LandCare Center: The LandCare Center was created in 2006 to help build the capacity of the landcare movement and industry in Virginia and beyond. Leadership is provided by Virginia Tech, New River Land Trust, Grayson LandCare, USDA National Agroforestry Center, Virginia Water Resources Research Center, and others. www.landcarecenter.org
• Community-based Natural Resource Management: In collaboration with the New Academy for Nature and Culture, we are a conducting research on the performance factors affecting the success of decentralized, community-based approaches to natural resource management and environmental governance. As part of this effort, I serve on the board of directors for the Greater Lynchburg Environmental Network and the steering committee for the Middle James Roundtable.
• Forest Sustainability: The forests have new owners and new neighbors, and society increasingly values the services forests provide; not just timber and taxes, but water, carbon sequestration, solitude, medicinal herbs, scenery, and community identity. I have an active research program investigating the triple bottom line of forest management: economic development, environmental sustainability, community vitality. As part of this effort, I serve as a Public Director of the Blue Ridge Forest Cooperative and a steering committee member for the Forest Issues Work Group.
• Public Ecology Project (PEP): PEP is a non-profit program founded in 2000. Our work seeks to empower members of local communities and global society to envision a sustainable and desirable future, one where environmental quality and the quality of life are improved for all people in all places. To accomplish this goal, we produce educational publications, public forums, and related programs designed to help people make informed and ethical decisions about nature, science, and society in the twenty-first century. www.publicecology.org 
• Learning Networks: We are examining the tremendous potential of learning networks as a conservation strategy to build social capacity, resolve conflict, develop management plans, and implement land change. Bruce Goldstein in Environmental Planning at Virginia Tech is leading this research effort funded by The Nature Conservancy and the US Forest Service.

Selected Publications

• Hull, R. B., D. P. Robertson, and G. J. Buhyoff. 2004. “Boutique” Forestry: New Forest Practices in Urbanizing Landscapes. Journal of Forestry 102(1):14-19. [online] URL: http://www.forestrycenter.org/library/admin/uploadedfiles/Boutique_Forestry_New_Forest_Practices_in_Urba.pdf 
• Robertson, D. P., and R. B. Hull. 2003. Public Ecology: An Environmental Science and Policy for Global Society. Environmental Science & Policy 6(5):399-410. Environmental Science & Policy Volume 6, Issue 5
• Robertson, D. P., and R. B. Hull. 2003. Biocultural Ecology: Exploring the Social Construction of the Southern Appalachian Ecosystem. Natural Areas Journal 23(2):180-189.
• Hull, R. B., D. P. Robertson, and G. J. Buhyoff. 2003. Beyond the interventionist-preservationist duality. Conservation Ecology 7(1): r4. [online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol7/iss1/resp4
• Hull, R. B., D. P. Robertson, D. Richert, E. Seekamp, and G. Buhyoff. 2002. Assumptions about Ecological Scale and Nature Knowing Best Hiding in Environmental Decisions. Conservation Ecology 6(2),12pp. [online] URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol6/iss2/art12
• Hull, R. B., D. Richert, E. Seekamp, and D. P. Robertson, and G. Buhyoff. 2002. Public Understandings of Environmental Quality: Ambiguity and Values Held by Environmental Professionals. Environmental Management 31(1):1-13. http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00267/tocs/t3031001.html
• Robertson, D. P., and R. B. Hull. 2001. Beyond Biology: Toward a More Public Ecology for Conservation. Conservation Biology 15(4):970-979.
• Robertson, D. P., and R. B. Hull. 2001. Which Nature? A Case Study of Whitetop Mountain. Landscape Journal 20(2):176-185. 
• Hull, R. B., D. P. Robertson, and A. Kendra. 2001. Public Understandings of Nature: A Case Study of Local Knowledge about “Natural” Forest Conditions. Society and Natural Resources 14:325-340.
• Hull, R. B., D. P. Robertson, G. Buhyoff, and A. Kendra. 2000. What Are We Hiding Behind the Visual Buffer Strip? Forestry Aesthetics Reconsidered. Journal of Forestry 98(7):34-38.
• Hull, R. B., and D. P. Robertson. 2000. The Language of Nature Matters: Toward a More Public Ecology. Pages 97-118 in P. H. Gobster and R. B. Hull, editors, Restoring Nature: Perspectives from the Humanities and Social Sciences. Island Press: Washington, DC. [online] URL: http://ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/2000/nc_2000_Hull_003.pdf
• Hull, R. B., and D. P. Robertson. 2000. Which Nature? A Conclusion. Pages 299-307 in P. H. Gobster and R. B. Hull, editors, Restoring Nature: Perspectives from the Humanities and Social Sciences. Island Press: Washington, DC.