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2008 Tilt, Bryan. "Smallholders and the ‘Household Responsibility system': Adapting to Institutional Change in Chinese Agriculture." Human Ecology 36(2): 189-199.
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2007 Tilt, Bryan. "The Political Ecology of Pollution Enforcement in China: A Case from Sichuan's Rural Industrial Sector" The China Quarterly 192: 915-932.
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2007 Tilt, Bryan and Pichu Xiao. "Industry, Pollution, and Environmental Enforcement in Rural China: Implications for Sustainable Development." Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development 36(1-2): 115-143. [pdf]
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2007 Tilt, Bryan and John A. Young. "Introductory Essay: Development in Contemporary China." Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development 36(1-2): 1-8. [pdf]
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2007 Li, Yongxiang and Bryan Tilt. "In Search of Solvency: Changing Agricultural Governance in an Ethnic Minority Autonomous Region of Southwest China." International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance, and Ecology 6(6):626-641.
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2006 Tilt, Bryan. "Perceptions of Risk from Industrial Pollution in China: A Comparison of Occupational Groups." Human Organization 65(2):115-127. [pdf]
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2006 Sepez, Jennifer, Karma Norman, Amanda Poole and Bryan Tilt. "Fish Scales: Scope, Scale, and Method in Social Science Research on North Pacific and West Coast Fishing Communities." Human Organization 65(3):283-296.
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2006 Tilt, Bryan. "Chinese Children's Consumption: A Commentary" In Jing Xiao, ed. Chinese Youth in Transition. Alershot: Ashgate Publishing. Pp. 70-76.
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2002 Tilt, Bryan. "Discourses of Development and Environmental Pollution in Rural China: A Study of Two Township and Village Enterprise Communities." Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Working Paper Series. 157: 28-52.
- Research Interests:
- Sustainable development, environmental risk assessment, pollution, community participation, natural resources, fisheries management
- Geographical Areas:
- China, North America
I consider myself an applied environmental anthropologist. My main research program focuses on sustainable rural development in China. I am particularly interested in the social and environmental impacts of rural industrialization, a process that has accelerated under the economic liberalization policies of the last 25 years. Today, residents of many rural communities are faced with a dichotomy. On the one hand, rural incomes and standards of living have risen dramatically in recent years, and much of this rise can be attributed to the growth of rural industry. On the other hand, industrial pollution undermines agricultural systems and threatens the health of rural residents. My research examines, ethnographically and quantitatively, the environmental risks created by rural industry in China's southwestern province of Sichuan, how community members perceive these risks, and the policies designed to mitigate environmental risks. My research approach frequently crosses fields; during an environmental risk assessment project in 2002-2003, for example, I used ethnographic methods, quantitative surveys, and scientific air and water quality monitoring.
As an applied anthropologist, I am interested in working with community members to shape development policies that promote both human welfare and environmental sustainability. I also collaborate frequently with Chinese colleagues from Sichuan University, Sichuan Nationalities Research Institute, and Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences. Currently (2006-2008), I am working on a collaborative research project with several Oregon State University colleagues, including Dr. Desiree Tullos (Biological and Ecological Engineering) and Dr. Aaron Wolf (Geosciences). The project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, examines the social, economic and ecological effects of dams on the Nu River and the Upper Mekong River in Yunnan, China. [Link to project: http://rivers.bee.oregonstate.edu/CHINA%20DAM%20STUDY%20PAGE/index.html]
Prior to joining the Anthropology Department at OSU, I worked for two years as a research contractor at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, Washington, one of several major research facilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). I worked in the Economics and Social Science Research Program, primarily on a project called "Fishing Communities of the North Pacific". My role in that project included researching how coastal Alaskan communities manage and use fishery resources, assessing the state of community viability by using social and economic indicators, and writing reports for intra-agency policymakers. As a result of this experience, I maintain a strong side interest in natural resource management and fisheries.
Some of my recent research projects include:
2006-present Modeling the Ecological, Economic and Social Effects of Dams in China.
2006-2008 Improving Community Profiles for Fishing Communities in Oregon, USA
2006 Field Research on Industrialization and Community Development in Sichuan and Yunnan, China.
2003-2005 Research on Community Profiles for the North Pacific, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Economics and Social Science Research Program
2002-2003 Field Research on Industry, Pollution, and Ecological Risk Assessment in Sichuan, China.
2002-2003 Visiting Scholar, Sichuan University Department of Economics, Chengdu, China
2001 Field Research on Township and Village Enterprises in Sichuan and Heilongjiang, China.
