Paul Hirsch is an assistant professor in environmental policy. His research explores the conceptual and organizational challenges of managing multi-scaled, complex environmental problems. His research approach is to bring together methods from the policy and cognitive sciences, and he is particularly interested in the interplay of science, values, and politics in shaping the boundaries within which environmental problems are conceived and managed. Hirsch is currently working on the role of "trade-offs" in conservation decision making, which has involved extensive work with colleagues in Vietnam, Tanzania, and Peru as part of a project called "Advancing Conservation in a Social Context." Previous projects have included the use of mental models to analyze the deliberative process resulting in the selection of regional planning boundaries for water planning in Georgia, work on the role of Institutional Review Boards in evaluating the ethics of scientific research with vulnerable populations, and work on the ecological implications of manufactured housing policy.

Hirsch also has extensive experience in the design and facilitation of cross-cultural, interdiscplinary collaborative processes. He has advised and participated in the development of several sustainability- oriented initiatives both in US and international contexts, including serving as a founding board member of the Georgia Community Loan Fund.

Hirsch has a Ph.D. in public policy (Georgia Tech 2008), an M.S. in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development (Odum School of Ecology, UGA 2002), and a B.S. in Biology and Society (Cornell 1995). He has received research funding from the Kellogg Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.