Scott C. Merrill

I am a Systems Ecologist with research spanning a wide range of both natural ecosystems and social-ecological systems. Projects include examining dynamics of change within pest-crop agroecosystems including aspects of climate change, examining ways to nudge human behavior to help protect the health of our livestock herds, and looking at factors motivating behavior that affects water quality in the Lake Champlain watershed. In the SEGS lab, I use experimental gaming as a novel technique for collecting data to examine decision making in social-ecological systems. An important goal of this work is the creation of applicable and predictive models to inform best management practices.

C.V.

NIH Bibliography

ResearchGate

Google Scholar

Research and/or Creative Works

Current and recently funded projects:

NSF EPSCoR. 2016-2021 Co-PI. Lake Champlain Basin Resilience to Extreme Events.

USDA-NIFA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. 2015-2021 Co-PI. A human behavioral approach to reducing the impact of livestock pest or disease incursions of socio-economic importance.

Publications

Merrill, S. C., Trinity, L., Clark, E., Shrum, T., Koliba, C. J., Zia, A., Clark, E., Bucini, G., Sellnow, T., Sellnow, D. and Smith, J. M. (2021) Message delivery strategy influences willingness to comply with biosecurity. Journal: Frontiers in Veterinary Science Vol. 8. June 2021 . DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.667265

Schattman, R., Trinity, L., Clark, E., and Merrill, S.C. (2021) Awards: Untapped motivation for agricultural conservation behavior. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. 9 (1): 00120. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00120

Deutsch, C. A., J. J. Tewksbury, M. Tigchelaar, D. S. Battisti, S. C. Merrill, R. B. Huey, and R. L. Naylor. (2018) Insect metabolic and population growth rates predict increasing crop pest pressure under climate warming. Science. Vol. 361 (6405) 916-919. DOI: 10.1126/science.aat3466

Associations and Affiliations

Managing Director: Social-Ecological Gaming & Simulation (SEGS) Lab UVM

Gund Institute For the Environment Fellow, UVM

Research on Adaptation and Climate Change's (RACC) Policy and Governance team

North East Water Resources Network's (NEWRnet) Social Dimensions team

Adjunct Professor, Food Systems Program, University of Vermont

Scott C. Merrill

Areas of Expertise and/or Research

Systems ecology, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), social-ecological systems, Landscape ecology, serious games, experimental gaming, animal biosecurity, climate change, population modeling, Monte Carlo simulations, and spatiotemporal modeling.

Education

  • Ph. D., Ecology, Colorado State University, 2007
  • B.S., Mathematics, University of Oregon, 1994
  • B.S., Psychology, University of Oregon, 1994

Contact

Email:

Scott.C.Merrill@uvm.edu

Phone:
  • (802) 656-0711
Office Location:

217 Jeffords Hall

Office Hours:

By appointment

Website(s):
  1. SEGS Lab
  2. Twitter @bugdoc_Scott

Courses Taught

HCOL 186 Ecological Gaming

PSS 381 Quantitative Thinking in Life Sciences