Tidball, Keith
Extension Associateresearch
research and scholarship focus
Tidball's research in Environmental Security, Community Based Approaches to Urban Natural Resource Management and Civic Ecology pursues questions such as: What role might natural resources, defined broadly, play in restoring societal equilibrium and community resilience in urban environments? How might community based natural resources management knowledge and approaches be adopted for use in field expedient conflict resolution "tool kits," especially for use in urban contexts? What role might the field of natural resources play in national and international strategic planning for post-conflict and other potentially volatile transition scenarios?
Cities experiencing social chaos may be viewed as social`-ecological systems that, as a result of a disturbance such as disaster or conflict coupled with lack of resilience, have shifted into a qualitatively different, undesirable state. Tidball has argued that urban community greening and other "civic ecology" approaches that integrate natural, human, social, financial, and physical capital in cities, and that encompass diversity, self-organization, and adaptive learning and management leading to positive feedback loops, have the potential to play a key role in developing urban community resilience before a disaster or conflict strikes. His current research applies resilience theory to urban social-ecological systems, attempts to expand comparative analysis of resilience narratives in cities to encompass more community-based and environmental approaches, and proposes an asset and community based tool, i.e., urban community greening, which can serve as the focus of social learning about resilience in cities. See Tidball and Krasny, Risk to Resilience: Urban Community Greening and Civic Ecology.
co investigator of
research areas
- landscape ecology | collaborative research area (CALS)
- natural resources | collaborative research area (CALS)
- sustainable development | collaborative research area (CALS)
- urban environment | collaborative research area (CALS)
international geographic focus
- Sub-Saharan Africa | trans-national region
- Western Europe | trans-national region
domestic geographic focus
- Louisiana | state
- New York City | city
- Seneca County | county
affiliations
academic staff in
- Natural Resources (NTRES/DNR) | Cornell department
administrative responsibilities
Associate Director of the Initiative for Civic Ecology
other Cornell affiliations
- Adult and Extension Education | academic program office
- City and Regional Planning (CRP) | Cornell department
- Civic Ecology Initiative | academic initiative
- International Programs (IP/CALS) | academic program office
teaching
recent courses taught
service
outreach focus
Tidball is primarily engaged in extension efforts which focus on engaging urban people in Civic Ecology. Civic Ecology Education integrates learning from scientists and community members, and community action. The goal of Civic Ecology Education is to build resilient communities, through enabling youth and adults to develop and apply an understanding of science and of diverse cultures, and to become active, contributing, and informed members of their community. Civic Ecology Education builds on and reinforces existing community assets. See Krasny and Tidball, Civic Ecology Education: A Systems Approach to Resilience and Learning in Cities.
background
educational background
- Ph.D. (in progress) Cornell University- Natural Resources
- M.A. George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs- International Development
- B.A. University of Kentucky- Cultural Anthropology
professional background
Oct 2002- Oct 2003 Agricultural and Natural Resources Economic Development Program Leader, Cornell University, Cooperative Extension, Ontario County, New York
Agriculture Economic Development specialist engaged in design and delivery of educational programs to enhance productivity, economic vitality and sustainability of agriculture and food systems industries. Assist in education of landowners and farmers on agricultural marketing and business development issues. Facilitate and assist with public policy education pertaining to agriculture, land use, conservation and management of natural resources. Participate as active member of local, regional, state, and national issue oriented action teams. Represent agriculture and food systems stakeholders’ interests before the public, community leaders, government officials, and Cornell University.
Nov 1999- Sept 2002 International Affairs Specialist, US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agriculture Service, International Cooperation and Development, Research and Scientific Exchanges Division, Washington, D.C.
Sustainable agriculture and conservation specialist focused on development, implementation, and evaluation of international technical assistance projects, seminars, and study tours to promote international peace processes, agricultural and natural resources conservation technologies in developing countries, and responsible expansion of U.S. export markets. Travel abroad extensively to engage in international negotiations and program coordination and implementation. Manage complex intra-agency and inter-agency logistics in the U.S. and abroad. Coordinate with other USDA representatives, other U.S. government agencies, U.S. organizations, foreign counterparts, and university representatives. Create and design new initiatives. Negotiate contracts, grants, and agreements. Develop and monitor project budgets. Devise problem-solving strategies. Prepare and edit proposals, reports, and promotional materials.
May 1999-Aug 1999 Volunteer Training Coordinator, Nueva Esperanza, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Central Amer.
Responsibilities included coordinating disaster relief efforts of three large "short-term" volunteer groups from the United States, including all training, logistics, materials, and support, on a sanitation and primary education project. Acquired building permits, negotiated small contracts. Developed fund-raising capabilities and increased marketing effectiveness. Initiated proceedings to establish legal not-for- profit organizational status for both Honduras and the United States, including formation of boards and committees. Created organizational mission statement and authored organizational prospectus. Reformatted and edited quarterly newsletter. Streamlined accounting and management systems.
Aug 1998- May 1999 Research Assistant, Federation of American Scientists, Washington, D.C.
Served as staff expert on development and military/conflict affairs. Participated in forming U.S. Small Arms Working Group to examine proliferation of light weapons. Organized Small Arms/Light Weapons conference session on Small Arms/ Light Weapons and Development and Humanitarian Relief Issues. Other responsibilities included consultation, writing and editing for newsletters, research and research support for the Arms Sales Monitoring Project. Attended hearings, presented lectures and short presentations, and tracked legislation, executive policy, and international initiatives related to light weapons systems. Gained experience in national media appearances on CNN, CBC, and various national radio outlets.
May 1998-Aug 1998 Research Intern, Foreign Affairs/National Defense Div., Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service, Washington, D.C.
Responsibilities included research and research support, tracking legislation, executive policy and international initiatives on the encryption debate related to foreign intelligence; researched U.S. encryption policy and practice as it related to foreign intelligence practices; located Congressional, Department of Defense, and other government documents; attended hearings.
awards and distinctions
Fellowships
· 2008 Cornell Faculty Fellows-in-Service Fellowship “Adding a Local Service Learning Component to the Urban Environment Course.”
· 2008 Community Forestry and Environmental Research Partnerships Dissertation Fellowship “Trees and Rebirth: Urban Community Forestry in Post-Katrina Resilience.”
· 2007 Community Forestry Research Fellows Program Predissertation Fellowship “Role of Community Forestry in NOLA, 9th Ward Disaster Recovery.”
· 2006 Clinton Dewitt Smith Fellowship
Merit awards
· US Department of Agriculture National Unsung Hero Award for design and implementation of TEACH US international agriculture education and extension program, 2002.
· US Department of Agriculture Certificate of Appreciation for leadership of TEACH US international agriculture education program to China, South Africa, and Ireland, 2001.
· US Department of Agriculture Certificate of Appreciation for leadership of DC Teacher’s Initiative South Africa expedition, 2000.
· US Department of Agriculture Certificate of Appreciation for DC Teacher’s Program and Ireland Food Safety Conference, 2000.
· University of Kentucky Van Meter Award for Outstanding Public Service, Volunteerism, and Humanitarian Action, 1998.
· University of Kentucky Student Activities Board Award for designing, building, and implementing University wide multi-cultural and diversity education programs, 1998.
· Departmental Honors, Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 1998.
· Graduated magna cum laude, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 1998.
· Phi Beta Kappa Essay Award, 1997.
· The Kentucky Military Academy Erickson Trophy, for overall excellence presented to distinguished graduate attaining highest overall standing in leadership, academics and Commandants evaluation, Kentucky Military Academy, 1993.
· National Guard Assoc. of Kentucky Award for Academic Excellence, Kentucky Military Academy, 1993.
· Army Achievement Medal, 1993.
· Kentucky Merit Ribbon, Second Award, 1993.
· Kentucky Merit Ribbon, 1993.
· National Defense Service Medal, 1991.
· Army Service Ribbon, 1989.
featured in
- Gardens sow common ground for military families to cope with deployment stress | Cornell Chronicle feature
publications
selected publications (listing in progress)
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
· Marianne E. Krasny and Keith G. Tidball. Applying a Resilience Systems Framework to Urban Environmental Education. Environmental Education Research. (Accepted for publication 2009).
· Keith G. Tidball and Christopher P. Toumey. Serpents, Sainthood, and Celebrity: Symbolic and Ritual Tensions in Appalachian Pentecostal Serpent Handling. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, Fall 2007.
· Kendra R. Liddicoat, Jamila W. Simon, Marianne E. Krasny, and Keith G. Tidball. Sharing Programs across Cultures: Lessons Learned from Garden Mosaics in South Africa. Children, Youth, and Environments, 17 (4), 2007.
· Elon Weinstein and Keith G. Tidball. Environment Shaping: an Alternative Approach to Development and Aid. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2007.
Book Chapters
· Keith G. Tidball and Marianne E. Krasny, “From Risk to Resilience: What Role for Community Greening and Civic Ecology in Cities?” in Wals, Arjen (editor) (2007), Social Learning Towards a more Sustainable World, Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
· Keith G. Tidball and Christopher P. Toumey, “Signifying Serpents: Hermeneutic Change in Appalachian Pentecostal Serpent Handling," in Ray, Celeste and Luke Eric Lassiter (editors) (2003) Signifying Serpents and Mardi Gras Runners: Representing Identity in Selected Souths, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia.
· Keith G. Tidball “Untangling the Web We Weave: Interagency Issues in International Development Project Management,” in Buzzard, Shirley (editor) (2000), Managing International Development Projects: A Practitioners View, Corcom, Washington, DC.
Other Articles
· Keith G. Tidball, “Urban Environments: Service Learning Towards Urban Sustainability,” Extending our Reach: Voices of Service Learning at Cornell, Faculty Fellows in Service, Cornell University, Fall 2007.
· Keith G. Tidball, “Birds in Community Gardens,” BirdScope, Winter, Vol. 21, No. 1, pg 11, 2007. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
· Keith G. Tidball and Marianne Krasny, “Creating Garden Mosaics, Piece by Piece,” Cornell Plantations Magazine, Summer/Fall 2006.
· Charles D. Ferguson and Keith G. Tidball "Man-Overboard Signaling Technology Can Save Lives." Commentary published in U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, April 1999.
· Keith G. Tidball, “Tracking Small Arms with Radio Tags,” Arms Sales Monitor, No. 41, October 1999.
· Keith G. Tidball, “U.S. Foreign Military Training: Training Transparency?” Arms Sales Monitor, No.40, May 1999.
· Keith G. Tidball, “Middle East Arms Proliferation: Cohen’s Door to Door Sales,” Arms Sales Monitor, No. 40, May 1999.
· Keith G. Tidball, “Counter-Narcotics Aid: Throwing Arms at the Problem,” Arms Sales Monitor, No.39, February, 1999.
· Keith G. Tidball, “Fanning the Flames in the Middle East,” Arms Sales Monitor, No. 38, November 1998.
Reports/Briefing Papers
· Keith G. Tidball, Elon D. Weinstein, Stephen Kaisler, Robert Grossman-Vermaas, and Scott Tousley. “Stake-Holder Asset-Based Planning Environment” DOD/OSD 2007 STTR TOPIC 003 Final Technical Report, May 2008.
· Keith G. Tidball, “Trees and Rebirth: Urban Community Forestry in Post-Katrina Resilience,” Community Forestry and Environmental Research Fellows Program Predissertation fellowship Final Report, 2008.
· Keith G. Tidball, Carol Kramer-LeBlanc, and Sarah Wolfe “TEACH US- Teaching Educators Agriculture and Conservation Holistically for Urban Society,” World Summit on Sustainable Development USDA Background Paper, USDA/FAS/ICD/RSED, Johannesburg, South Africa, August 26, 2002.
· Keith G. Tidball, “ICD/RSED Scientific Cooperation in Agriculture with Spain,” USDA/FAS/ICD/RSED Briefing Paper, April 26, 2001.
· Keith G. Tidball, “The U.S. Ireland Cooperation Program in Agriculture, Science, and Technology,” USDA/FAS/ICD/RSED Briefing Paper, March 9, 2000.
· Keith G. Tidball and Richard A. Best, Jr. "The Encryption Debate: Intelligence Aspects," CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., November 1998.
Papers
· Keith G Tidball & Marianne Krasny, “Rethinking Peace Parks as Social-Ecological Systems: “Environmental Peacemaking” and Resilience.” Paper presentation at the 93rd Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Milwaukee, WI, Aug 3-8, 2008.
· Richard Stedman & Keith G Tidball “Addiction or Trust, Vulnerability or Confidence? Expanding the Concept of “Dependence” in the Studies of Resource Dependent Communities.” Paper presentation at meetings of the Rural Sociological Society, Manchester, NH July 2008.
· Keith G Tidball & Marianne Krasny, “Raising Urban Resilience: Community Forestry and Greening in Urban Post-Disaster and Post-Conflict Contexts.” Paper presentation at meetings of the Resilience Alliance, “Resilience 2008,” Stockholm, Sweden: April 2008.
· Marianne E Krasny & Keith G Tidball, “Urban Environments: A Service Learning Course in NYC to Foster Urban SES Resilience.” Paper presentation and workshop at meetings of the Resilience Alliance, “Resilience 2008,” Stockholm, Sweden: April 2008.
· Marianne E Krasny & Keith G Tidball, “Civic Ecology Education: Building social and natural capital through learning.” Paper presentation and workshop at meetings of the Resilience Alliance, “Resilience 2008,” Stockholm, Sweden: April 2008.
· Marianne E Krasny & Keith G Tidball, “Civic Ecology Education.” Paper presentation at meetings of the North American Association for Environmental Education, Virginia Beach VA, November 2007.
· Marianne E Krasny, & Keith G Tidball, “Civic Ecology Education: A Systems Approach to Resilience and Learning.” Paper presentation at the World Environmental Education Congress, Durban, South Africa: July 2007.
· Marianne E Krasny, O' Donoghue, Robert & Tidball, Keith. “Local and Indigenous knowledge in urban environmental education in the US and South Africa.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of The North American Association for Environmental Education, Oct 24, 2005
· Keith G Tidball, “Media Portrayals of Appalachian Pentecostal Serpent-handling.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society, Asheville, North Carolina, April 2002.
· Keith G. Tidball, “New Observations on Appalachian Pentecostal Serpent Handling.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Anthropological Society, Nashville, Tennessee, April 2001.
Keith G Tidball, "Media Sensationalization, Shifting Symbols, and Serpent-handling in Appalachia." Paper presented at the Appalachian Studies Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, March 1997.
talks and presentations
· Keith G Tidball, “Civic Ecology for Greener Communities,” invited presentation at the Achieving Greener Communities Through Civic, Private, and Government Sector Innovations conference, a one-day conference of the Rural Learning Network of Central and Western New York. Mt. Morris, NY: October 2008.
· Keith G Tidball, “Civic Ecology: Resilience Thinking in Urban Social-Ecological Systems,” invited presentation at the 8th Annual Symposium on Environmental and Energy Systems, “Creating Resilience in Sustainable Communities,” Syracuse, NY: September 2008.
· Keith G Tidball, “Bringing People Back in: Civic Ecology in Urban Social-Ecological Systems,” invited presentation at the Summer Joint Session of the Northeast Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Directors, and the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET) Delegate, Washington , DC: July 2008.
· Krasny, ME and KG Tidball. 2008. “Systems Theory in Environmental Education: Participation, Self-organization, and Community Interactions.” American Educational Research Association. NYC, NY.
· Keith G Tidball, Marianne E Krasny, “Local vs. Global Environmental Education: Approaches emerging from ‘spaces-in-between’” presentation at the World Environmental Education Congress, Durban, South Africa: July 2007.
· Keith G Tidball, “Urban Environments: Civic Ecology Through Service Learning in New York City,” invited presentation at Cornell Public Service Center’s annual Faculty Fellows in Service University-Community Partnership Conference, Ithaca, NY: April 26, 2007.
· Keith G Tidball, “Civic Ecology: Growing Neighborhood Leaders,” keynote address at the Ohio Community Gardening Conference, Columbus, OH: March 16, 2007.
· Keith G Tidball, “Community Greening in New Orleans: Seeing the Past, and the Promise of the Future,” presentation at the American Community Garden Association Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA: August 2006.
· Keith G Tidball, “Urban Community Greening and Community Resilience,” presentation at the Cornell University Dept. of Natural Resources Graduate Student Association 2006 Symposium, Ithaca, NY: January 18, 2006.
· Keith G Tidball, “Toward a Natural Resource Intervention: Community Greening as a First Response Tool for Post-Crisis in Urban Contexts” presentation at the Cornell University Dept. of Natural Resources Graduate Student Association 2005 Symposium, January 2005.
· Keith G Tidball, Marianne E Krasny, “Garden Mosaics: Growing Across Cultures.” Presentation/workshop at American Community Garden Association Annual Conference: Toronto, September 30, 2004.
· Marianne E Krasny, Keith G Tidball, L Pohl-Kosbau, and A Berkowitz. Exploring Urban Ecology Through Community Gardens. Presentation/workshop at Ecological Society of America Annual Conference. Portland, Oregon. August 1, 2004.
· Krasny, ME, K Tidball, M Cox, G Daniel, L Librizzi, D Stahl, A Wasescha, and J Whitehead. “Garden Mosaics.” American Community Garden Association Annual Conference: Chicago, IL. 2003.
· Krasny, ME, K Tidball, M Cox, G Daniel, L Librizzi, D Stahl, A Wasescha, and J Whitehead. “Garden Mosaics.” Cultural Connections for the School Garden. Chicago, IL. 2003.
· Keith G Tidball and ME Krasny. “Garden Mosaics: a unique citizen science project.” Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta Annual Conference, Boston, MA. 2003.
· Keith G Tidball and ME Krasny. “Garden Mosaics: Intergenerational Learning in Gardens.” Generations United Annual Conference, Arlington, VA. 2003.