- PhD in Environmental Governance with a focus on Multi-functional Forestry, Perth College-UHI
- Msc in Environmental Management, Stirling University, Scotland
- Bsc in Applied Ecology, Cork University, Ireland
Research Activities
Rob joined The Centre for Mountain Studies in February of 2004 where he undertook a PhD studentship under the supervision of Prof. Martin Price, the director of CMS and Dr Charles Warren of St Andrews University. His PhD research was based on the opportunities and challenges of multi-functional forest management in the Scottish Highlands. The research area was the Cairngorms region and the project incorporated a range of methodologies including GIS, policy analysis, a postal survey of landowners and in-depth interviews of relevant personnel. The study entailed a particular focus on the effects of scale and landownership on the management and governance of forests.
Having recently completed his PhD, Rob is employed at CMS working on a number of projects relating to sustainable land management and the governance of upland areas.
Rob recently completed a project which explored policy development opportunities to support rural development through the production of quality foods from mountain regions in Europe. Rob has also worked on projects relating to wild land and wildness in Scotland in conjunction with Scottish Natural Heritage and the Cairngorms National Park Authority and is currently involved in a Scottish Government commissioned review of the status and conservation of wild land in Europe.
Rob also recently completed a scoping study for Forestry Commission Scotland on key opportunities for forestry development in Caithness and Sutherland, and a case study on the benefits and impacts of the grouse shooting industry in the Tomintoul and Strathdon communities in the Cairngorms National Park.
As part of the wider ‘Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century’ research programme, Rob is currently working on a project which will examine the sustainability of community owned and managed estates in Scotland.
Rob also lectures on the Environmental Assessment module within the Msc in Sustainable Mountain Development Programme and is currently organising a conference on Scotland’s wild landscapes for May of 2010 (see CMS conference page for details).
Key research themes which interest Rob include:
- The conceptualisation of wild land and wildness in a Scottish context, with a specific interest in the development of a typology of wildness/wild land and the exploration of variability in how wildness is conceptualised among key stakeholders and the general public.
- The relevance of a social-ecological ‘systems’ approach to forestry and wider land management in the uplands of Scotland, with a specific emphasis on exploring ‘scale mis-matches’ prevalent in the management and governance of the uplands and how policy regionalisation can address such mis-matches.
- The relevance and importance of how land is owned in Scotland and how landownership affects the long-term sustainability of different approaches to land management.
Publications
Mc Morran, R., Price, M.F. and McVittie, A. (2006). A review of the benefits and opportunities attributed to Scotland's landscapes of wild character. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 194 (ROAME No. F04NC18).
Mc Morran, R., Price, M.F. and Warren, C. (2008) The call of different wilds: The importance of definition and perception in protecting and managing Scottish wild landscapes. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 51(2), 177-199.
Mc Morran, R. (2008) Scale Mis-matches in Social-Ecological Systems: A case study of multifunctional forestry in the Cairngorms region of Scotland. Aspects of Applied Biology 85, p41-48.
Comber, A., Carver, S, Fritz, S., Mc Morran, R and Washtell J. (2008) Mapping uncertainty in perceptions of landscape wildness. GIS Research UK Conference, Manchester Metropolitan University, Conference Proceedings.
Mc Morran, R. (2007) Scottish wild landscapes: Wild nature or wild experience? The Munro Society Journal 1, 26-30.
Comber, A., Carver, S., Fritz, S., McMorran, R. Washtell, J. and Fisher, P. (2009) Different methods, different wilds: Evaluating alternative mappings of wildness using fuzzy MCE. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, article in press.
Unpublished Research Reports
Mc Morran, R. and Price, M. (2008) Key policy related constraints and opportunities for the production, processing and marketing of foods from mountainous areas in Europe. Research report for the Euro-MARC project.
Carver, S., Comber, L., Fritz, S., Mc Morran, R., Taylor, S. and Washtell, J. (2008) Wildness Study in the Cairngorms National Park. University of Leeds.
Mc Morran, R. (2009). Red grouse and the Tomintoul and Strathdon communities - The benefits and impacts of the grouse shooting industry from the rural community perspective; a case study of the Strathdon and Tomintoul communities in the Cairngorms National Park. The Scottish Countryside Alliance Educational Trust Commissioned Report.
Mc Morran, R. And Milne, J. Forestry in Caithness and Sutherland; A context analysis. Report for Forestry Commission Scotland
PhD Thesis
The opportunities and constraints for multifunctional forest management in the Cairngorms region of Scotland