Aaron Lien studies governance and adaptation in response to emerging ecological threats such as global change and invasive species. Lien’s research interests are focused on developing new knowledge about how to encourage private land conservation in the context of landscape-scale ecological systems, how environmental governance systems influence conservation outcomes, and how the attitudes of resource managers and users impact conservation and governance decisions. By linking surveys, interviews, and institutional analysis with environmental data, he seeks to answer questions about social-ecological systems.