Dr. Vernita Ediger, Ph.D
Community Development Coordinator
• About Me :
As a native Eastern Oregonian, I earned my Ph.D. at Stanford University where I researched social and ecological outcomes of private uses of public lands. My academic work includes a focus on the design of institutions and decision-making processes that bridge ideological divides and resolve resource-use conflicts. In addition to my academic background in ecology and cultural systems, I am the daughter of a rancher, niece of a logger and former seasonal employee of the United States Forest Service and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. I am a trained facilitator and adept at encouraging dialogue among disparate stakeholders with the goal of forging consensus. I have a passion for Eastern Oregon and am committed to processes that proactively address the regions’ changing needs.
• What I do at RDI :
I talk on the telephone, send out emails and spend a lot of time in my car. In the process, I meet a lot of really great people and get to know most of the major and minor roads across the state.
• State where I was born:
Oregon!!! Born and bred right here in this lovely state.
• What I wanted to be when I was 8 years old:
When I was 8 years old I wanted to be a scientist. My parents gave me an amateur chemistry set for my birthday and I spent hours with test tubes and beakers on the back porch concocting nasty-smelling, gaseous potions which probably devalued property in the neighborhood for years.
• Interesting previous job(s) I've held:
Calling goshawk and trapping shrews for the United States Forest Service
• One of my personal goals for :
This year I will not get lost while cross-country skiing, mountain biking or hiking in the hills… and if I do get lost, I will have with me the survival kit my mom gave me for Christmas!!!
• A place I want to visit at least once in my lifetime:
To Be Announced…
• My favorite book and why:
I can’t pick just one favorite book! If you haven’t read Paul Auster’s “New York Trilogy” you ought to—This book –especially the first mini-novel of the three—is a quirky exploration of identity and “the self” and the many different ways one person understands and recreates him/herself and compartmentalizes portions of his/her life. The many different ways the main character understands himself and contradicts himself along the way offers a humorous and unexpected glimpse into the human psyche. That said, for a normal read, I love “The English Patient.” This book is lyrical, and explores the boundaries of ownership and individuality in love. The language is lyrical and the storyline layers one experience over another, with each character and our understanding of the story becoming richer along the way.
• My favorite board game:
I love the game Boggle, where everyone makes-up a definition for a word that no one has ever heard of before and then each person tries to guess the right definition of the word. The longer you play the game, the more plausible every fictitious definition seems. The truth is, I just love making up words and iterblations that gives me an excuse to profundicate!
• The coolest thing someone has done for me:
During a long road bike trip with a friend, I became horribly ill. I had a fever and minor convulsions out in the vast expanse of the Malheur. We had biked all day and set up camp, then biked all day the next day when I was hit with a fever of over 104—over 60 miles from our car let alone a hospital. We hitch-hiked back to our campsite only to find that someone had stolen all of our gear: tents, stove, coats—all of it. My friend took me to a roadside lodge and rode his bike over 60 miles back to the car in the dark of night, in the middle of a desert just to get me to the hospital. It was pretty amazing.
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Community Development Coordinator
• About Me :
As a native Eastern Oregonian, I earned my Ph.D. at Stanford University where I researched social and ecological outcomes of private uses of public lands. My academic work includes a focus on the design of institutions and decision-making processes that bridge ideological divides and resolve resource-use conflicts. In addition to my academic background in ecology and cultural systems, I am the daughter of a rancher, niece of a logger and former seasonal employee of the United States Forest Service and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. I am a trained facilitator and adept at encouraging dialogue among disparate stakeholders with the goal of forging consensus. I have a passion for Eastern Oregon and am committed to processes that proactively address the regions’ changing needs.
• What I do at RDI :
I talk on the telephone, send out emails and spend a lot of time in my car. In the process, I meet a lot of really great people and get to know most of the major and minor roads across the state.
• State where I was born:
Oregon!!! Born and bred right here in this lovely state.
• What I wanted to be when I was 8 years old:
When I was 8 years old I wanted to be a scientist. My parents gave me an amateur chemistry set for my birthday and I spent hours with test tubes and beakers on the back porch concocting nasty-smelling, gaseous potions which probably devalued property in the neighborhood for years.
• Interesting previous job(s) I've held:
Calling goshawk and trapping shrews for the United States Forest Service
• One of my personal goals for :
This year I will not get lost while cross-country skiing, mountain biking or hiking in the hills… and if I do get lost, I will have with me the survival kit my mom gave me for Christmas!!!
• A place I want to visit at least once in my lifetime:
To Be Announced…
• My favorite book and why:
I can’t pick just one favorite book! If you haven’t read Paul Auster’s “New York Trilogy” you ought to—This book –especially the first mini-novel of the three—is a quirky exploration of identity and “the self” and the many different ways one person understands and recreates him/herself and compartmentalizes portions of his/her life. The many different ways the main character understands himself and contradicts himself along the way offers a humorous and unexpected glimpse into the human psyche. That said, for a normal read, I love “The English Patient.” This book is lyrical, and explores the boundaries of ownership and individuality in love. The language is lyrical and the storyline layers one experience over another, with each character and our understanding of the story becoming richer along the way.
• My favorite board game:
I love the game Boggle, where everyone makes-up a definition for a word that no one has ever heard of before and then each person tries to guess the right definition of the word. The longer you play the game, the more plausible every fictitious definition seems. The truth is, I just love making up words and iterblations that gives me an excuse to profundicate!
• The coolest thing someone has done for me:
During a long road bike trip with a friend, I became horribly ill. I had a fever and minor convulsions out in the vast expanse of the Malheur. We had biked all day and set up camp, then biked all day the next day when I was hit with a fever of over 104—over 60 miles from our car let alone a hospital. We hitch-hiked back to our campsite only to find that someone had stolen all of our gear: tents, stove, coats—all of it. My friend took me to a roadside lodge and rode his bike over 60 miles back to the car in the dark of night, in the middle of a desert just to get me to the hospital. It was pretty amazing.
> Click to Return to Staff Listing