About Dr. Courtney Flint
Dr. Courtney Flint
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Anthropology
Courtney.Flint@usu.edu
Dr. Courtney G. Flint is a Natural Resource and Community Sociologist at Utah State University.Her research focuses on understanding the relationship between people and the natural environment through the application of sociological frameworks and methods, specifically how people understand change and vulnerability in their landscapes and their capacity for maintaining or improving wellbeing through collective action, rather than simply focusing on the risks. She has 51 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters to her credit, and her work has been cited by scholars across a number of disciplines more than 1,000 times. Dr. Flint is a Co-PI on a new interdisciplinary graduate training program at USU on climate adaptation science. She is also a research scientist for the iUTAH Project, focusing on social and engineering dynamics of water in Utah. She participates in international efforts to frame human dimensions of mountain landscapes in support of a global network of mountain observatories and serves as the only sociologist on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Board of Scientific Counselors.
Exploring Well Being in the Wasatch Through Mountain Sociology
The concept of wellbeing has been a focal point of society since Ancient Greece. Today, we understand wellbeing as having individual, social, and environmental dimensions, including landscape features such as mountains. What is the state of wellbeing in the Wasatch Mountains? How do people perceive the role of the Wasatch Mountains in our regional wellbeing? What threatens wellbeing? How do we sustain wellbeing in the Wasatch? This presentation highlights research findings from the student focused Mountain Research Team at Utah State University. The voices of people in various regional roles highlight the many ways quality of life is enhanced by the Wasatch Mountains, as well threats to manage for the future.