David Flores

1. Safety and organizational learning within the wildland fire system.
2. Social-cultural attitudes and beliefs that impact decision making.
3. Trends in outdoor recreation by race and ethnicity.
4. Community leader responses to natural disasters.
5. Land user responses to ecological change.  

1. Military sociology and organizational culture.
2. Military veteran experiences and meaning of warfare.
3. Political attitudes and behavior.
4. Qualitative research methodologies.
5. The sociology of labor in Latin America.

Flores, David. 2016. Politicization beyond politics: Narratives and mechanisms of Iraq War veterans’ activism. Armed Forces and Society. doi: 10.1177/0095327X16642041.

Flores, David. 2016. From prowar soldier to antiwar activist: Change and continuity in the narratives of political conversion among Iraq War veterans. Symbolic Interaction. doi: 10.1002/SYMB.225.

My research interests are based on a social-cultural approach to the study of decision making, land use and natural resources. More specifically, my research interests include 1) understanding cultural attitdues and beliefs within complex organizations and institutions; 2) investigating access to outdoor recreation, with particular emphasis on historically underrepresented communities; and 3) documenting environmental management and decision making in urban and rural areas. Using quantitative and qualitative methodolgies, my research rests within the intersection of sociology, anthropology, psychology, communications, and public policy. My collaborations include diverse partners from universities, government, and non-government organizations.

My current research works to support efficient and effective land management by improving the understanding of sustainable relationships between communities and their environments, diversity in communities of land users, and management decision making within complex land management organizations. Specifically, I address social and cultural attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs that impact how people make dicisions concerning land management. This research is important because of the increasing complexity of managing conflicting resource demands and conservation priorities. Conflict over competing land uses stems in part from social and cultural differences in how people view and value the ways in which land and natural resources are managed. My research works to improve understanding of cultural identity and conflict and their relationship to disputes over public lands.