Cole Jenson

Cole found his way into rural natural resources policy through quite a winding path, starting with a degree in neuroscience from Duke University in North Carolina that focused on auditory pathways and music perception. After some time bouncing between neuroscience research and music administration, Cole landed in the Bering Strait of Alaska doing public health research, due to unrelated circumstances (sometimes the romantic move works out, folks). Climatic conditions in the Bering Strait pushed Cole to pursue work related to the environment, which quickly took the form of studying sustainable agriculture, community planning, and GIS in the EPM program at UC Davis. Through the required EPM Policy Clinic capstone, Cole was drawn to the underappreciated but essential roles that sawmills and rural natural resource economies can play in wildfire resilience and broader environmental and societal wellbeing. 

After a half decade bouncing across the western states, Cole is back in the Carolinas, but still working for one of his Policy Clinic clients on a wide range of rural policies and programs in the West. Reach out to chat about Stewardship Economies, rural economic development, collaborative forest management, wood utilization, Tribal engagement, and just about anything else related to rural policy or forest policy.