Dr. H. Carolyn Peach Brown is a Professor of Environmental Studies in the Faculty of Science at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada. She holds a BSc (Honours) (Acadia) and a MSc (Guelph) in the biological sciences and a PhD (Cornell) in Natural Resource Policy and Management. Prior to completing her PhD in 2005, she lived and worked for over 10 years in Central Africa in agricultural and community development.
Her research focuses on innovations in environmental governance that contribute to the goals of sustainable resource management and improved livelihoods. In particular, she explores the role played by communities and civil society groups in multi-level governance, in the context of changing policy and a changing climate. She uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches in research that is guided and informed by her interdisciplinary background in both the natural and social sciences. She has led research projects in Central Africa, Atlantic Canada and the Caribbean. An award-winning teacher, Carolyn also conducts research in the field of the scholarship of teaching.
From 2010 – 2025, Carolyn was Director of the Environmental Studies program at UPEI and led the development of a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) degree program This interdisciplinary liberal arts and science degree provides students with the opportunity to integrate knowledge across faculties of Arts, Science, and Business. With the BES degree, students learn to make environmental connections across academic fields and to analyze the environmental challenges we face today. In the classroom, field, and community, students lead the way in finding innovative solutions—making a positive impact toward sustainability in your personal life, locally and globally.
Selected Publications
- Brown, H.C. Peach and K. Wishart Chu Foon. “An investigation of the impacts of COVID-19 on conservation organizations and their networks in Trinidad and Tobago.” Orynx 9(2), 193-200.
- Wishart Chu Foon, K. Wishart and Brown, H.C. Peach. (2025). Benefits, challenges and ways forward for informal governance networks managing protected areas in Trinidad and Tobago. Caribbean Studies 53(1), 125-161.
- Brown, H. C. Peach. 2023. “An exploration of young farmers’ willingness to protect species at risk in Prince Edward Island.” Biodiversity and Conservation 32: 2693-2708.
- Brown, H.C. Peach. 2023. “Student perspectives on course-based experiential learning in Environmental Studies.” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 13: 59-65.
- Wishart Chu Foon, K., Brown, H.C. Peach, and J. Pittman. 2022. “Exploring conservation actor networks in Trinidad and Tobago.” Society & Natural Resources 35 (9): 993-1011.
- Reiter, D., Pittman, J., Ayambire, R.A., Brown, H.C. Peach., Colla, S. R., Loewen, T. M., McCune, J. L., Olive, A. and L. Parrott. 2022. “Lessons learnt from multiple private land conservation programs in Canada to inform species at risk conservation.” The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien 66 (4): 669- 682.
- Brown, H.C. Peach. 2021. “Governance and climate change in conflict-affected countries of Central Africa.” pp. 120 – 134. In R. Djalante and B. Siebenhüner (Editors) Adaptiveness – Changing Earth System Governance. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
- Brown, H.C. Peach. 2021. “Youth, migration and community forestry in the Global South.” Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 30 (3): 213-225.
- Brown, H.C. Peach. 2018. “An assessment of institutional capacity for integrated landscape management in eastern Cameroon.” Environmental Management 62 (1): 118-127 (Special issue on Synergy and Complexity in Integrated Value Chain and Landscape Governance).
- Brown, H.C. Peach and D.J. Sonwa. 2018. “Diversity within village institutions and its implication for resilience in the context of climate change in Cameroon.” Climate and Development 10 (5): 448-457.
- MacNeil, C.A., Brown, H.C. Peach and D. Sonwa. 2017. “An investigation of the livelihood strategies of young men and women in forested landscapes of eastern Cameroon.” International Forestry Review 19 (4): 437-448.
- Brown, H.C. Peach. 2017. “Implementing REDD+ in a conflict-affected country: A case study of the Democratic Republic of Congo.” Environments 4: 61 doi:10.3390/environments4030061 (Special issue on Tropical Forests and Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation).
- Brown, H.C. Peach and D. Sonwa. 2015. “Rural local institutions and climate change adaptation in forest communities in Cameroon.” Ecology and Society 20 (2): 6.