Tonya Haigh

Tonya Haigh

  • Contact Information
  • My Story
  • Publications
  • Background
  • Interests
  • Grants

Contact Information

TitleRural Sociology Research Specialist
Address802 South Hardin Hall
3310 Holdrege Street
Lincoln NE
68583–0988

East Campus
Phone
  • office: 402-472-6781
  • fax: 402-472-4915
E-mailthaigh2@unl.edu
VitaeDownload file

 

Contact Preference

E-mail

Office Hours

TBD, please email

My Story

I am a Research Assistant Professor in SNR and the Social Science Coordinator and Project Coordinator for the National Drought Mitigation Center. My research focuses on the adaptive capacity of agricultural producers and others to cope with drought. I am interested in connecting social science with climate science by informing the development of stakeholder-driven resources and tools. I have worked with ranchers, advisors, and researchers to develop the Managing Drought Risk on the Ranch website ( https://drought.unl.edu/ranchplan) and have provided social science expertise to the development of climate decision support tools for Corn Belt producers and specialty crop growers. Prior to life in Lincoln, I worked in various capacities with organizations related to sustainable/regenerative farming, ranching, and rural community organizing. My academic and research expertise includes social theory related to climate risk management, survey development and administration, quantitative data analysis, qualitative data collection and analysis, and program evaluation.

Selected Publications

Cravens, A.E., Goolsby, J.B., Jedd, T., Bathke, D.J., Crausbay, S., Cooper, A.E., Dunham, J., Haigh, T., Hall, K.R., Hayes, M.J. and McEvoy, J. (2023). The patchwork governance of ecologically available water: A case study in the Upper Missouri Headwaters, Montana, United States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association. Online
E Elias, B Fuchs, J Lisonbee, T Bernadt, V Martinez, T Haigh. (2023). Evolution of the Southwest Drought Learning Network: Collective Response to Exceptional Drought. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 104 (5), E935-E942. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0017.1Online
Haigh, T., Wickham, E., Hamlin, S., Knutson, C. (2023) Planners’ perceptions of strategies and barriers to achieving local drought preparedness. Journal of the American Planning Association. 89 (3): 348-362. DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2022.2071324
Schwartz, C., Haigh, T., Svoboda, M. (2023) How is Flash Drought Understood?: Experts’ Definitions and Decision-makers’ Perceptions. Weather, Climate, and Society.15(4): 909924. Online
Haigh, T., Otkin, J., Woloszyn, M., Todey, D., Felkley, C. (2022). Meeting the drought information needs of Midwest perennial specialty crop producers. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 839-855.
Haigh, T., Wickham, E., Hamlin, S., Knutson, C. (2022). Planning strategies and barriers to achieving local drought preparedness. Journal of the American Planning Association, 1-7.Online
Otkin, J., Woloszyn, M., Wang, H., Svoboda, M., Skumanich, M., Pulwarty, R., Lisonbee, J., Hoell, A., Hobbins, M., Haigh, T., Cravens, A. (2022). Getting ahead of Flash Drought: From Early Warning to Early Action. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 103(10), E2188-E2202.
Ulrich-Schad, J., Li, S., Arbuckle, J., Avemegah, E., Brasier, K., Burnham, M., Kuman Chaudhary, A., Eaton, W., Gu, W., Haigh, T., Jackson-Smith, D. (2022). An Inventory and Assessment of Sample Sources for Survey Research with Agricultural Producers in the US. Society & Natural Resources, 1-9. Online
Cravens, A. E., Henderson, J., Friedman, J., Burkardt, N., Cooper, A. E., Haigh, T., Hayes, M. J., McEvoy, J., Paladino, S., Wilke, A. K., Et al. (2021). A typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions. Weather and Climate Extremes, 33, 100362Online
Haigh, T., Hayes M., Smyth, J., Prokopy, L., Francis, C., Burbach, M. (2021) Ranchers’ use of drought contingency plans in protective action decision-making. Rangeland Ecology and Management, 74, 50-62.Online
Ibarra, A. M. S., Hewitt, C., Winarto, Y. T., Walker, S., Keener, V. W., Bayala, J., Christel, I., Bloomfield, H., Halsn\aes, Kirsten, Jacob, D., Haigh, T., Et al. (2021). Resilience through climate services. One Earth, 4(8), 1050--1054Online
Liu, T., Krop, R., Haigh, T., Smith, K., Svoboda, M. (2021). Valuation of Drought Information: Understanding the value of the US Drought Monitor in land management. Water, 13(2), 112.Online
Lu, J., Singh, A. S., Koundinya, V., Ranjan, P., Haigh, T., Getson, J. M., Klink, J., Prokopy, L. S. (2021). Explaining the use of online agricultural decision support tools with weather or climate information in the Midwestern United States. Journal of Environmental Management, 279, 111758.
Smart, A. J., Harmoney, K., Scasta, J. D., Stephenson, M., Volesky, J., Vermeire, L. T., Mosley, J. C., Sedivec, K., Meehan, M., Haigh, T., others (2021). Critical decision dates for drought management in Central and Northern Great Plains rangelands. Rangeland Ecology \& Management, 78, 191--200Online
Haigh, T., Schacht, W., Knutson, C., Smart, A., Volesky, J., Hayes, M., and Burbach, M. (2020) Preparing for Drought on the Ranch: Lessons from 2012. Research Counts 3(6). Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder.
Noel, M., D. Bathke, B. Fuchs, D. Gutzmer, T. Haigh, M. Hayes, M. Poděbradská, C. Shield, K. Smith, M. Svoboda. (2020) Linking Drought Impacts to Drought Severity at the State Level. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 101:E1312–E1321.Online
Noel, M., Hayes, M., Bathke, D., Haigh, T. 2020. Ready for Drought? A Community Resilience Role-Playing Game. Water. 12, 2490: 1-17. Online
Bathke, D., Haigh, T., Bernadt, T., Wall, N., Hill, H., Carson, A. 2019. Using Serious Games to Facilitate Collaborative Water Management Planning Under Climate Extremes. Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education (167), 55-60.Online
Haigh, T. R., Otkin, J. A., Mucia, A., Hayes, M. J., Burbach, M. E. (2019). Drought early warning and the timing of range managers’ drought response. Advances in Meteorology, 2019, Article 9461513Online
Haigh, T. R., Schacht, W., Knutson, C., Smart, A. J., Volesky, J., Allen, C., Burbach, M. E. 2019. Socioecological determinants of drought impacts and coping strategies for ranching operations in the Great Plains. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 72: 561-5Online
Haigh, T. R., Schacht, W., Knutson, C., Smart, A. J., Volesky, J., Allen, C., Hayes, M. J., Burbach, M. 2019. Socioecological Determinants of Drought Impacts and Coping Strategies for Ranching Operations in the Great Plains. Rangeland Ecology \& ManagemenOnline
Haigh, T., Otkin, J., Murcia, A., Hayes, M. J., Burbach, M. 2019. Drought early warning and the timing of range managers' drought response. Advances in Meteorology, Special Issue: Climate Risk Assessment, Coping, and Adaptation. 2019.Online
Haigh, T., Schacht, W., Knutson, C., Smart, A., Volesky, J., Allen, C., Hayes, M. J., Burbach, M. 2019. Socio-ecological determinants of drought impacts and coping strategies for ranching operations in the Great Plains. Rangeland Ecology and Management. 7Online
Carson, A., Hill, H., Windsor, M., Haigh, T., Wall, N., Smith, J., Olsen, R., Bathke, D., Demir, I., Muste, M. (2018). Serious Gaming Based Participatory Planning for Mitigation of Flood, Drought, and Water Quality. International Journal of River Basin Ma
Demisse, G., Tadesse, T., Bayissa, Y. A., Haigh, T., Wall, N., Shiferaw, A. 2018. Linking Seasonal Vegetation Condition Outlook Information to Decision Makers in a Data-sparse Region: A Case Study in the Greater Horn of Africa. Remote Sensing ApplicationsOnline
Haigh, T., Koundinya, V., Hart, C., Klink, J., Lemos, M., Mase, A. S., Prokopy, L., Singh, A., Todey, D., & Widhalm, M. (2018). Provision of climate services for agriculture: Public and private pathways to farm decision-making. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 99(9):1781-1790.Online
McEvoy, J., Bathke, D., Burkardt, N., Cravens, A., Haigh, T., Hall, K., Hayes, M. J., Jedd, T., Podebradska, M., Wickham, E. (2018). Ecological Drought: Accounting for the Non-Human Impacts of Water Shortage in the Upper Missouri Headwaters Basin, MontanOnline
Otkin, J. A., Haigh, T., Mucia, A., Anderson, M. C., & Hain, C. (2018). Comparison of Agricultural Stakeholder Survey Results and Drought Monitoring Datasets during the 2016 US Northern Plains Flash Drought. Weather, Climate, and Society, 10(4), 867-883.Online
Church, S., Haigh, T., Widhalm, M., de Jalon, S.G., Babin, N., Carlton, J.S., Dunn, M., Fagan, K., Knutson, C., Prokopy, L. (2017). Agricultural Trade Publications and the 2012 Midwestern Drought: A Missed Opportunity for Climate Risk Communication. ClimaOnline
Jedd, T., Hayes, M. J., Carillo, C. M., Haigh, T., Chizinski, C., Swigart, J. (2017). Measuring park visitation vulnerability to climate extremes in U.S. Rockies National Parks tourism. Tourism Geographies, 1-26.Online
Prokopy, L. S., Carlton, J. S., Haigh, T., Lemos, M. C., Mase, A. S., & Widhalm, M. (2017). Useful to Usable: Developing usable climate science for agriculture. Climate Risk Management, 15, 1-7.Online
Carlton,J.S., A.S. Mase, C.L. Knutson, M.C.Lemos, T.Haigh, D.P.Haigh, L.S.Prokopy. 2016. The effects of extreme drought on climate change beliefs, risk perceptions, and adaptation attitudes. Clim Change 135(2): 211-226. doi:10.1007/s10584-015-1561-5Online
Tadesse, T., Haigh, T., Wall, N., Shiferaw, A. S., Zaitchik, B., Beyene, S., Demisse, G., Petr, J. 2016. Linking Seasonal Predictions into Decision-making and Disaster Management in the Greater Horn of Africa.  Bulletin of the American Meteorological SociOnline
Tadesse, T., Haigh, T., Wall, N.., Andualem, S., Zaitchik, B., Shimelis, B., Demisse, G. B., Jacob, P. 2016. Linking Seasonal Predictions into Decision-making and Disaster Management in the Greater Horn of Africa. Bulletin of the American Meteorological SOnline
Carlton, J. S., Mase, A. S., Knutson, C., Lemos, M. C., Haigh, T., Todey, D. P., Prokopy, L. S. (2015). The Effects of Drought on Climate Change Beliefs, Risk Perceptions, and Adaptation Attitudes. Climatic Change. 135: 211.
Haigh, T., G. Takle, J. Andresen, M. Widhalm, J.S. Carlton, J. Angel. (2015). Mapping the decision points and climate information use of agricultural producers across the U.S. Corn Belt. Climate Risk Management.
Haigh, T., Wright Morton, L., Lemos, M. C., Knutson, C., Prokopy, L. S., Lo, Y. J., Angel, J. (2015). Agricultural Advisors as Climate Information Intermediaries: Exploring Differences in Capacity to Communicate Climate. Weather, Climate and Society, 7, 8Online
Tadesse, T., D. Bathke, N. Wall, J. Petr, and T. Haigh, 2015. Participatory Research Workshop on Seasonal Prediction of Hydro-climatic Extremes in the Greater Horn of Africa. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, ES139Online
Arbuckle, J., Prokopy, L. S., Haigh, T., Hobbs, J., Knoot, T., Knutson, C., Loy, A., Mase, A. S., McGuire, J., Morton, L. W., Tyndall, J., Widhalm, M. (2013). Climate Change Beliefs, Risk Perceptions, and Attitudes Toward Adaptation and Mitigation Among FOnline
Haigh, T., Knutson, C. (2013). Role of Perceived Control and Planning in Ranch Drought Preparedness. Great Plains Research Journal, 23, 51-58.Online
Knutson, C., Haigh, T. (2013). A Drought Planning Methodology for Ranchers in the Great Plains. Rangelands, 35, 27-33.Online
Prokopy, L. S., Haigh, T., Mase, A., Angel, J., Hart, C., Knutson, C., Lemos, M., Lo, Y., McGuire, J., Morton, L. W., Perron, J., Todey, D., Widhalm, M. (2013). Agricultural Advisors: A Receptive Audience for Weather and Climate Information? Climate, WeatOnline
Knutson, C.L., T. Haigh, M.J. Hayes, M. Widhalm, J. Nothwehr, M. Kleinschmidt, (2011). Farmer Perceptions of Conservation and Sustainable Agriculture Practices and Drought Risk Reduction in Nebraska,USA, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 26(3): 25Online

Background

Education

DegreeMajorInstitutionYear Awarded
Doctorate of PhilosophyNatural Resource Sciences (Human Dimensions)University of Nebraska-Lincoln2019
Master of ScienceRural SociologySouth Dakota State University1998
Bachelor of ScienceHuman and Physical EcologyHamline University1992

 

Affiliations

 

Professional Organizations

NamePosition
American Meteorological Society

 

Websites

 

SNR Program Areas

  • Applied Climate and Spatial Science

Areas of Interest/Expertise

  • Social Science
  • Qualitative Research Methods
  • Quantitative/Survey Research Methods
  • Drought
  • Agriculture
  • Adaptation and Behavior
  • Adaptive Capacity
  • Risk and Vulnerability
  • Evaluation

Grants

Currently this page only displays grants that were awarded on 1/1/ 2009 to the present. If a grant was awarded prior to 1/1/ 2009 and is still active, it will not be displayed on this page.

Grant TitleConnecting Ecological Drought Monitoring Tools with Natural Resourc Stakeholders in Montana (Continued Funding)
Starting Date07/11/2024

Investigator(s)

Ending Date08/31/2024
Funding Level$74,139.00
Funding AgencyNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 

Grant TitleIntegrated Midwest Partnerships for Actionable Climate Tools and Training
Starting Date04/01/2023

Investigator(s)

Ending Date03/31/2026
Funding Level$99,174.00
Funding AgencyPurdue University

 

Grant TitleConnecting Ecological Drought Monitoring Tools with Natural Resource Stakeholders in Montana
Starting Date09/01/2022

Investigator(s)

Ending Date08/31/2024
Funding Level$68,325.00
Funding AgencyNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 

Grant TitleClimate-Smart Indigenous Agriculture: Drought Planning and Adaptation with New Mexico Pueblos
Starting Date04/15/2022

Investigator(s)

Ending Date03/29/2024
Funding Level$297,800.00
Funding AgencyUSDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service

 

Grant TitleUSDA Support of the US Drought Monitor and Hub Activities
Starting Date10/01/2020

Investigator(s)

Ending Date09/30/2023
Funding Level$2,375,000.00
Funding AgencyUS Deparment of Agriculture - OCE

 

Grant TitleDrought Information Services and Research for Ag across the US
Starting Date09/30/2020

Investigator(s)

Ending Date09/29/2021
Funding Level$800,000.00
Funding AgencyUS Deparment of Agriculture - OCE

 

Grant TitleProviding Drought Information Services for the Nation: the National Drought Mitigation Center (Additional Funding)
Starting Date08/01/2020

Investigator(s)

Ending Date09/30/2021
Funding Level$808,530.00
Funding AgencyNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 

Grant TitleProviding Drought Information Services for the Nation: the National Drought Mitigation Center
Starting Date09/01/2019

Investigator(s)

Ending Date08/31/2021
Funding Level$791,470.00
Funding AgencyNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Association

 

Grant TitleConnecting Drought Early Warning to the Decision Making Needs of Specialty Crop Producers in the Midwestern United States
Starting Date09/01/2018

Investigator(s)

Ending Date08/31/2019
Funding Level$91,817.00
Funding AgencyNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 

Grant TitleDrought Summit and Outreach
Starting Date01/22/2018

Investigator(s)

Ending Date09/30/2019
Funding Level$85,000.00
Funding AgencyAmerican Planning Association

 

Grant TitleMissouri Basin Drought Indicators
Starting Date07/01/2016

Investigator(s)

Ending Date06/30/2018
Funding Level$34,607.00
Funding AgencyNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

 

Grant TitleRisk Management Education for Ranchers in Oklahoma City, OK, RMA Region: Drought Planning, Range Management, and FCIC Options including Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Insurance and Rainfall Index-Annual Forage Insurance
Starting Date09/30/2014

Investigator(s)

Ending Date03/29/2015
Funding Level$75,594.00
Funding AgencyDepartment of Agriculture - RMA

 

Grant TitleThe Role of Drought Preparedness in Improving the Sustainability of Great Plains Ranches
Starting Date02/01/2012

Investigator(s)

Ending Date01/31/2014
Funding Level$56,366.00
Funding AgencyUniversity of Missouri

 

Grant TitleWorkshops for Livestock Production
Starting Date09/26/2011

Investigator(s)

Ending Date09/25/2012
Funding Level$93,752.00
Funding AgencyDepartment of Agriculture