Paul H. Gobster, Research Social Scientist. Paul Gobster [USDA] is a Research Social Scientist with the USDA Forest Service’s North Central Research Station in Chicago, where he also co-directs that Station’s Integrated Research Program on Midwestern Landscape Change. Paul holds degrees in regional planning, landscape architecture, and environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin. His research focuses on people’s perceptions of natural areas restoration and management, the human dimensions of landscape change, and access and equity issues in urban parks. Paul was lead editor of an August 2004 special theme issue of the journal Landscape and Urban Planning on "The Social Aspects of Landscape Change: Protecting Open Space under the Pressure of Development".