Recent Publications
Changing Human Behavior to Conserve Biodiversity
Conservation of biodiversity is above all else an exercise in human persuasion. Human behavior drives all substantive threats to biodiversity; therefore, influencing it is the only path to mitigating the current extinction crisis. We review the literature across three different axes to highlight current evidence on influencing human behavior for conservation. First, we look at behavioral interventions to mitigate different threats, from pollution and climate change to invasive species and human disturbance. Next, we examine interventions focused on different stakeholders, from voters, investors, and environmental managers to consumers, producers, and extractors. Finally, we review delivery channels, ranging from mass and social media to interventions involving changes to the physical environment or carried out in person. We highlight key gaps, including the lack of scale and robust impact evaluation of most interventions, and the need to prioritize behaviors, overcome the reproducibility crisis, and deal with inequality when designing and implementing behavior change interventions.
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The Human Dimensions of Small Cetacean Conservation: 2022 Workshop Report, Nuremberg, Germany
In December 2022, a workshop on Human Dimensions of Small Cetacean Conservation was held in Nuremberg, Germany. The goal of the workshop was to examine the role of human behavior, thoughts, and feelings in species conservation efforts for dolphins and porpoises. Participants reviewed current challenges and opportunities for engaging local communities and stakeholders in conservation efforts. The need for a more holistic approach that takes into account social, economic, cultural, and political factors was highlighted. The importance of collaboration between conservation organizations, governments , and local communities was emphasized, as was the need for adaptive management that considers the changing needs and perspectives of stakeholders over time. The workshop concluded that (1) incorporating human dimensions considerations into small cetacean conservation efforts means careful attention to the role of human behavior in causing and mitigating impacts on the animals and their environment, (2) successful strategies for improved dolphin and porpoise conservation must ultimately include actions that result in changes in human behaviour, and (3) we must work with and for people to identify shared goals for conserving dolphin and porpoise species while ensuring that human communities prosper.
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Understanding the motivations and barriers to adoption of environmentally sustainable activities around Kibale National Park, Uganda
Kibale National Park (KNP) is a biodiversity hotspot. Covering 795 km2 it is home to the most diverse population of primates in Africa including 13 species and the largest populations of Eastern Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in East Africa. Rural communities around the park rely heavily on subsistence agriculture and natural resources that surround the park for survival. Population density near the park is greater than 300 people per kilometer, exacerbating pressure on natural resources around and within the park. UNITE for the Environment (UNITE) is a conservation organization working with KNP that provides communities with conservation education programs that address local environmental needs and promotes sustainable solutions to support the protection of this important primate habitat. In prior work, UNITE found considerable variation in how well these sustainable activities are adopted. To understand the factors that influence uptake of different sustainable practices by households, we conducted a community survey on participants’ motivations and barriers. Results highlight a number of factors influencing adoption including education and awareness, access, convenience, economic and direct benefits associated with the practices as well as community influence. These results imply that efforts to promote the widespread adoption of sustainable practices should focus on creating more awareness on sustainable behaviors in targeted communities, which can change their perceptions and attitudes towards the practices and emphasize the direct benefits that arise from adoption of such practices.
Conference Videos
I ran a 3-day conference on conservation behaviour change in February 2024. The videos below include presentations from some of the most renowned conservationists in this field.
PhD Research
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The role of psychology in determining human–predator conflict across southern Kenya
Conflict between people and carnivores can lead to the widespread killing of predators in retaliation for livestock loss and is a major threat to predator populations. In Kenya, a large, rural, pastoralist population comes into regular conflict with predators, which persist across southern Kenya. We explored the social and psychological backdrop to livestock management practices in this area in a process designed to be easy to use and suitable for use across large areas for the study of conflict and transboundary implementation of wildlife conflict reduction measures, focusing on community involvement and needs. See publication.
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Everyone is normal: Consistent livestock management norms and demographic clusters in Kenya and Zimbabwe
Human behavior often determines the success of conservation projects, and the emerging discipline of conservation psychology focuses on understanding and influencing this behavior. Social norms (a group's perception of the appropriateness of behaviors) are a key influence on human behavior, and social norms campaigns can often engender population‐wide behavior changes. Human‐predator conflict is a major conservation issue, and one in which human behavior plays a substantial role: high standards of livestock management can considerably lower predation levels. In this paper, we use factor analysis to show that the livestock management normative belief structure of rural livestock owners is highly conserved between populations in Kenya and Zimbabwe. See publication.
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Social referents and normative standards affect perceptions of livestock management behaviors
Social influence impacts individuals’ behavior through norms – the perceived appropriateness of behaviors – and social referents, whose behavior is copied by others. Interventions using social influence may help promote conservation-friendly behaviors. We explored how perceptions are influenced by descriptive norms (what people do) and social referents (who does it) in relation to livestock management in Kenya. By presenting participants with vignettes describing different livestock management scenarios, we explored how two norms (‘high’ vs. ‘low’ standards of livestock management) and three social referents (‘neighbor,’ ‘leader,’ ‘father’) influence participants’ perceptions of aspects of livestock management. More senior social referents and ‘high’ standard norms were associated with greater impact on perceived importance of livestock management behaviors. See publication.
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More than a feeling: Cognitive beliefs and positive—but not negative—affect predict overall attitudes toward predators
Attitudes, which can be thought of as the sum of individuals' thoughts, feelings, and beliefs concerning an attitude object, inform how people interact with the world around them. An understanding of attitudes may play an important role in promoting desirable human behavior, and attitudes studies should be incorporated into any behavior‐change intervention. One framework for understanding attitudes is the ABC, or “tripartite” model, which says that affect (“A,” i.e., emotional response); previous behavior (“B”); and cognition (“C,” i.e., beliefs) are the basis for an individual's attitude. Although this framework is widely used in social psychology, few conservation studies break down the “attitude” monolith into these more usable components. In this study, we sought apply the ABC framework to understand how affect and cognitive beliefs relate to overall attitude toward predators across southern Kenya and north‐west Zimbabwe. See publication.