Current Research Interests

• Outside Looking in: Lobbyists' Views on Civil Discourse in U.S. State Legislatures
• Developing Adaptive Capacity in Wildfire-prone Regions, National Science Foundation, Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems
• State and Local Government and Politics: Prospects for Sustainability (3rd ed., 2024)
• Sustainable Small and Rural Local Governments in Cascadia, Fulbright Canada Research Chair, University of Victoria (Final Report)

Teaching

• PPOL 201 - Introduction to Public Policy
• PPOL 421 - Research Methods
• PPOL 422 - Policy Analysis
• PPOL 511 - Public Organizations and Leadership
• PPOL 512 - Public Policy Theory 
• PPOL 523 - Qualitative Research Methods
• PPOL 552 - International Comparative Rural Policy
• PPOL 613 - Advanced Policy Theory I
• PPOL 614 - Advanced Policy Theory II
• PS 476/576 - Science and Politics

Professional Interests

• Vote Smart [Executive Board Member]
• Journal of Rural and Community Development [Editorial Board]
• Journal of Political Science and International Affairs [Editorial Board]
• Review of Studies of Sustainability [Editorial Board]
• Academia Green Energy [Editorial Board]
• Regional and Rural Development [Co-editor]
• OSU Water Resources Management and Policy [Faculty Affiliate]
• OSU Environmental Science Graduate Program [Faculty Affiliate]
• OSU Master of Natural Resources Program [Faculty Affiliate]
• OSU Marine Resource Management Program [Faculty Affiliate]
• International Comparative Rural Policy Consortium [Faculty Affiliate]

Brief Vita  

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., Political Science, Washington State University
• M.A., Political Science, Washington State University
• B.A., Government, Eastern Washington University
• A.A., Spokane Falls Community College

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• 2023 - Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Healthy People and Planet, University of Victoria.
• 2022 to present - University Distinguished Professor in Public Policy, Oregon State University. 
• 2015 to present - Affiliate Professor, Master of Natural Resources, Oregon State University.
• 2005 - Visiting Professor, Environmental Resource Management, American University in Bulgaria.
• 2005 to present - Affiliate Professor, Water Resources Management and Policy Graduate Program.
• 2003 to 2023 - Director, Public Policy Graduate Program, Oregon State University.
• 2003 - Fulbright Scholar, Public Administration, University of Botswana.
• 2003 to present - Affiliate 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 - Affiliate 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:

• "Developing Adaptive Capacity in Wildfire-Prone Regions," National Science Foundation, Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (2019-2024). 
• "Climate Change Adaptation, Sustainable Energy Development and Comparative Agricultural Policy," National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), United States Department of Agriculture (2013-2017).
• “Rural Policy Learning Commons,” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2014-21).

BOOKS:

• Christopher Simon, Brent S. Steel and Nicholas P. Lovrich, State and Local Government: Sustainability in the 21st Century (Oregon State University, 2024, 3rd ed.; Oregon State University, 2018, 2nd ed.; Oxford University Press, 2011, 1st ed.).
• Erika Allen Wolters and Brent S. Steel (eds.) Environmental Politics and Policy of Western Public Lands (Oregon State University Press, 2020).
• Erika Allen Wolters and Brent S. Steel, When Ideology Trumps Science: Why We Question the Experts on Everything from Climate Change to Vaccinations (Praeger Publishers, 2018).
• Edward Weber, Denise Lach and Brent S. Steel (eds.), New Strategies for Wicked Problems: Science and Solutions for the 21st Century (Oregon State University Press, 2017).
• John C. Pierce and Brent S. Steel, Prospects for Alternative Energy Development in the U.S. West: Tilting at Windmills? (Springer Press, 2017).
• Brent S. Steel (ed.), Science and Politics: An A to Z Guide to Issues and Controversies (Sage/CQ Press, 2014).
• John Dernbach (Brent S. Steel, Contributing Author), Acting as if Tomorrow Matters: Accelerating the Transition to Sustainability (Environmental Law Institute Press, 2012).
• Richard Clucas, Mark Henkels, and Brent S. Steel (eds.) Oregon Politics and Government: Progressive versus Conservative Populism (University of Nebraska Press, 2005).
• Brent S. Steel, Richard Clinton and Nicholas Lovrich. Environmental Politics and Policy: A Comparative Perspective (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? (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 (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 (Praeger Publishers, 1992).

RECENT ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS:

• Brent S. Steel, "Wicked Problems in Environmental Economics." In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance (2025). doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190625979.013.979

• Tanyi Tanyi and Brent S. Steel, "The Problems Facing the Electrical Grid System in Sub-Sahara Africa, and Ways of Resolving Grid Unreliability Across Sub-Sahara Africa: The Case of Nigeria." The Electricity Journal, forthcoming.

• Erika Allen Wolters, Brent S. Steel, Tamara Krawchenko and Sadaf Farooq, "Small and Rural Local Government Environmental Sustainability Plans, Programs and Policies in Cascadia: A Comparative Analysis," Society and Natural Resources, (2025): 1-27. doi: 10.1080/08941920.2025.2463075

• Brent S. Steel, Nicholas P. Lovrich, and John C. Pierce, "Rural Local Government Institutional Sustainability Programs and Plans in Cascadia: A Comparative Analysis." Rural and Regional Development, 1(2024). doi: 10.70322/rrd.2024.10021.

• Brent S. Steel, Erika Allen Wolters, Tamara Krawchenko and Sadaf Farooq, "Determinants of Small and Rural Local Government Renewable Energy Program Adoption in Cascadia," Current Alternative Energy 6(2024). doi: 10.2174/0124054631315198240702104315

• Edward Weber, Denise Lach and Brent S. Steel, "Science, Wicked Problems and Climate Change," in D.J. Fiorino, T.A. Eisenstadt and M.K. Ahluwalia (eds), Elgar Encyclopedia of Climate Policy and Change (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024).

• John C. Pierce, William Schreckhise, Nicholas P. Lovrich, Francis Benjamin, Brent S. Steel, and Steven Stehr, "Is There a Link Between Citizen Civility and State Legislative Civility?" State and Local Government Review 1(2024). doi: 10.1177/0160323X241271269

• Brent S. Steel, Nicholas P. Lovrich and John C. Pierce, "Cultural Theory, Wildfire Information Source, and Agency Public Trust: A Central Oregon Case Study," Environmental Management (2023): doi: 10.1007/s00267-023-01909-7

• Muhammad Usman Amin Siddiqi, Brent S. Steel, Erika Allen Wolters, "Situational and Trans-situational Correlates of Public Energy Literacy: A Western Case Study,” Current Alternative Energy 5(2022).

• Alexandra Buylova, Erika Allen Wolters and Brent S. Steel, “Public Climate Change Beliefs and Support for Wave Energy in the Pacific Coast Collaborative: The Case of British Columbia and the U.S. Pacific Coast States,” Chapter 4 in S. Lund ed. N. Columbus ed., Canada: Past, Present and Future Perspectives. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, 2020.

• Erika Allen Wolters, Brent S. Steel, and Rebecca L. Warner, “The Old West, the New West and the Next West?” Chapter 16 in Erika Allen Wolters and Brent S. Steel (coed.) Environmental Politics and Policy of Western Public Lands (Oregon State University Press, 2020).

• Christopher Simon, Erika Allen Wolters, and Brent S. Steel, “Western Rebellion: Who Own’s the West?” Chapter 15 in Erika Allen Wolters and Brent S. Steel (coed.) Environmental Politics and Policy of Western Public Lands (Oregon State University Press, 2020).

• Alexandra Buylova, Brent S. Steel, and Christopher A. Simon, “Public Perceptions of Energy Scarcity and Support for New Energy Technologies: A Western U.S. Case Study,” Energies 13 (2020).