Political Science

Professor
Director, Public Policy Graduate Program
300E Gilkey Hall
Political Science
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-5303
Phone: (541) 737-6133
Fax: (541) 737-2289
Email: bsteel@oregonstate.edu

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Teaching Resources:

Courses

Areas of Interest and Activities:

• Current PhD Students
• Public Policy Graduate Program [Director]
• Project Vote Smart [Founding and Executive Board Member]
• Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy [Editorial Board]
• Political Research Quarterly [Editorial Board]
• OSU Rural Studies Program [Advisory Board]
• OSU Water Resources Management and Policy [Faculty Affiliate]
• OSU Environmental Science Graduate Program [Faculty Affiliate]
• OSU Marine Resource Management Program [Faculty Affiliate]
• International Comparative Rural Policy Consortium [Faculty Affiliate]
• Transatlantic Students Symposia [Faculty Affiliate]
• Full Vita (pdf)

Brief Vita: 

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science, Washington State University, 1984
• M.A., Political Science, Washington State University, 1981
• B.A., Government/Economics, Eastern Washington University, 1979
• A.A., Science, Spokane Falls College, 1977

Professional Experience

• 2011 to present - Affiliate Professor, PhD in Economics and Management of Sustainability, University of Naples, Italy.
• 2005 - Visiting Professor, Environmental Resource Management, American University in Bulgaria, Bulgaria.
• 2005 to present - Adjunct Professor, Water Resources Policy and Management Graduate Program.
• 2003 to present - Director, Master of Public Policy Program, Oregon State University.
• 2003 - Fulbright Scholar, Public Administration, University of Botswana, Botswana.
• 2003 to present - Adjunct Professor, Marine Resource Management Program, Oregon State University.
• 2001 - Professor, Political Science, Oregon State University.
• 1998 to 2001 - Associate Professor, Political Science, Oregon State University.
• 1998-present - Adjunct Professor, Environmental Sciences Graduate Program, Oregon State University.
• 1995 to 1998 - Director, Master of Public Affairs Program, Washington State University.
• 1995 to 1998 - Associate Professor, Political Science, Washington State University.
• 1995 - Visiting Professor, Public Administration, Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
• 1992 to 1995 - Assistant Professor, Political Science, Washington State University.
• 1990 to 1992 - Visiting Assistant Professor, Political Science, Oregon State University.
• 1984 to 1990 - Assistant Professor, Political Science, Oakland University.

Recent Grants:

• Co-Principal Investigator, “Coupled Natural and Human Systems in Fire-Prone Landscapes: Interactions, Dynamics and Adaption,” National Science Foundation (2010-2013) $1,499,953
• Co-Principal Investigator, "Water Reuse in Corvallis, Oregon: Public Opinion and a Plan for Public Participation," USDI Geological Survey, (2009-2012) $12,508. 
• Co-Principal Investigator, "Firewood and Invasive Species in Oregon," Oregon Invasive Species Council (Oregon Department of Agriculture) (2010-2011) $48,609.
• Co-Principal Investigator, "Analysis of the North Pacific Research Board Research Program," North Pacific Research Board, (2010) $39,480.
• Co-Principal Investigator, “International Comparative Rural Policy Studies Summer Institutes,” USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant (2009-2012) $321,955.
• Co-Principle Investigator, "Blue Revolution Initiative: Regional Water Management Benchmarking in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region, USAID/Egypt (2008-2010) $308,255. [with International Resources Group and OSU Institute for Water and Watersheds]
• Co-Principal Investigator, “Human Dimensions of Wave Energy,” Oregon Wave Energy Trust (2008-2009) $110,000. 
• Co-Principal Investigator, “Changing Federal County Payments Policy and Rural Oregon Counties: Impacts and Options,” The Ford Family Foundation, (2007-2008) $18,000. 
• Co-Principal Investigator, “Development of a Model Community Data Base,” The Ford Family Foundation, (2006-2007) $27,000. 
• Principal Investigator, “The Role of Science and Scientists in the Environmental Policy Process: A Comparative Analysis of Bulgaria and the United States,” INTREU Program, National Science Foundation, (2004-2005) $36,270.
• Co-Principal Investigator, “Changing Expectations for Science and Scientists in Natural Resource Decision Making: A Case Study of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program,” National Science Foundation, (2004-2008) $200,000.
• Principal Investigator, “Analysis of Project Vote Smart’s Youth Inclusion Program,” The Pew Charitable Trusts, (2004) $68,000.
• Co-Principal Investigator, “Understanding the Role of Knowledge in Public Support of Salmon Restoration and Sustainable Pacific Fisheries,” Oregon Sea Grant, (2002-2004) $91,554.
• Principal Investigator, “A Program for Collaborative Public Affairs Education and Research: Oregon State University and Sakhalin State University (Russia).” U.S. Department of State, University Affiliations Program (2000-2004) $249,616.
• Principal Investigator, “National Youth Platform,” The Pew Charitable Trusts. The grant supports the creation and distribution of a National Youth Platform, designed to highlight the major issue concerns of youth (16 to 25 years of age) by encouraging the media and elected officials to listen to their concerns while inviting young people to become more involved in the electoral process. (2000-2001) $325,000.
• Co-Principal Investigator, “Understanding the Changing Role of Scientists and Scientific Information in Natural Resource Decision Making: A Pilot Study with the Long Term Environmental Research Program,” National Science Foundation (1998-2000) $75,164 

Books:

• Brent S. Steel (ed.) Issues and Controversies in Science and Politics (CQ Press, forthcoming).
• Brent S. Steel (Contributing Author), John Dernbach's Acting as if Tomorrow Matters: Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability (Environmental Law Institute Press, 2012).
• Christopher Simon, Brent S. Steel and Nicholas P. Lovrich, State and Local Government: Sustainability in the 21st Century (Oxford University Press, 2011).
• Richard Clucas, Mark Henkels, and Brent S. Steel (eds.) Oregon Politics and Government: Progressive versus Conservative Populism (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005).
• Brent S. Steel, Richard Clinton and Nicholas Lovrich. Environmental Politics and Policy: A Comparative Perspective (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003).
• John C. Pierce, Nicholas P. Lovrich, Brent S. Steel, Mary Ann Steger, and John Tennert, Political Culture and Public Policy in Canada and the United States:  Only a Border Apart? (New York: Edwin Mellen Publishers, 2000).
• Dennis L. Soden and Brent S. Steel (eds.), Global Environmental Policy and Administration (New York: Marcel Dekker, 1999).
• Brent S. Steel (ed.), Public Lands Management in the West: Citizens, Interest Groups and Values (New York:  Praeger Publishers, 1997).
• John C. Pierce, Mary Ann Steger, Brent S. Steel and Nicholas P. Lovrich, Citizens, Political Communication, and Interest Groups: Environmental Organizations in Canada and the United States (New York:  Praeger Publishers, 1992).

Recent Publications:

• Jeannette Taylor, Brent S. Steel and Christopher Simon, "The Influence of Job Attributes and Culture on Job Productivity: Comparing the Views of Public Servants in Asia Pacific and the United States," Review of Public Personnel Administration 33(2013): 205-224.
• Brent S. Steel, "Local Government Sustainability Plans, Programs and Policies in Oregon's Wine Producing Area," pp. 141-162 in Z. Andreopoulou, G. Paolo Cesaretti and R. Misso (eds.), Development Sustainability and Territorial Dimension: The Role of Regional Systems with Rural Vocations (Italy: FrancoAngeli Press, 2012).
• Richard Clucas, Mark Henkels and Brent S. Steel, “The Politics of One Oregon: Causes and Consequences of the Rural-Urban Divide and Prospects for Overcoming It,” pp. 113-142 in One Oregon (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2011).
• Brent S. Steel and Mary Ann Steger, “Death Penalty: Crime Deterrent or Legalized Homicide?” pp. 45-79 in R. Tatalovich and B. Daynes (eds.) Social Regulatory Policy (M.E. Sharpe, 2011).
• Brent S. Steel, Rebecca L. Warner and Denise Lach, “Gender Differences in Support for Scientific Involvement in U.S. Environmental Policy,” Science, Technology, and Human Values 35(2010): 147-173.
• Brent S. Steel, review of Trova Heffernan, An Election for the Ages: Rossi vs. Gregoire, 2004, (Washington State University Press). Journal of the Oregon Historical Society (2010).
• John C. Pierce and Brent S. Steel, eds., "Cultural Considerations in Alternative Energy Transfer," special edition of Comparative Technology Transfer and Society 7(2009): 247-250.
• John C. Pierce, Brent S. Steel and Rebecca L. Warner, “Knowledge, Culture and Public Support for Renewable Energy Technology Policy in Oregon,” Comparative Technology Transfer and Society (2009): 270-286.
• Brent S. Steel, Denise Lach and Rebecca L. Warner, “Science and Scientists in the U.S. Environmental Policy Process,” The International Journal of Science in Society 1(2009): 171-188.
• Brent S. Steel, “Book Review Perspective: T. Nordhaus and Shellenberger, Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Responsibility,” Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy 5(2009): 1-3.
• Brent S. Steel, "Common Sense versus Symbolism: The Case for Public Involvement in the Old Growth Debate," pp. 116-126 in T. Spies and S. Duncan (eds.) Old Growth in a New World: A Pacific Northwest Icon Reexamined (Island Press, 2009).
• Brent S. Steel, Rebecca L. Warner and Denise Lach, "Changing Expectations for Science and Scientists in Natural Resource and Environmental Policy," International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences 3(2008): 1-12.
• Brent S. Steel, Rebecca L. Warner and Alex Johnson, "Environmental NGOs and Science Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Bulgaria and the U.S.," Journal of Environmental Systems 31(2004-05; published in 2008): 141-157.
• Brent S. Steel, Sarah Henderson and Rebecca L. Warner, "NGOs and the Development of Civil Society in Bulgaria and the U.S.: A Comparative Analysis," Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research 20(2007): 35-52.
• Brent S. Steel and Rebecca L. Warner, "Global Academia: The State of Environmental Learning and Awareness," pp. 233-255 in Khi V. Thai, Dianne Rahm, and Jerrell D.Coggburn (eds.) Handbook of Globalization and the Environment(Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis, 2007).
• Brent S. Steel, Denise Lach and Vijay Satyal, "Ideology and Scientific Credibility: Environmental Policy in the American Pacific Northwest," Public Understanding of Science 15(2006): 481-495.
• Brent S. Steel, "Saving Wild Salmon: Moving from Symbolic Politics to Effective Policy," pp. 517-532 in R. Lackey and D. Lach (eds.) Salmon 2100 Project: Alternative Futures for Pacific Salmon (Bethesda, MD: American Fisheries Society, 2006).
• Brent S. Steel, "Ocean and Coastal Literacy in the United States," Sea Technology (July, 2006): 45-49.