Research

My research addresses human dimensions of global change, international and sustainable development, and human-environment relationships in the context of biodiversity conservation and protected areas. My research is comparative and global in perspective, emphasizing the context-specific nature of the human-environment relationship while abstracting to find patterns, make comparisons among countries, and develop management recommendations and conceptual frameworks. My research questions include: What are the values that local residents hold toward protected areas? What role can local residents play in conserving protected areas and wildlife? How can we build on those values to improve the effectiveness of protected areas? Other aspects of my research include understanding the motivations of local residents to participate in community-based conservation programs to protect wildlife and the gendered aspects of park-people relationships. I am currently investigating how the park-people relationship and protected area effectiveness are related and how we can use that understanding to more effectively prioritize and plan conservation actions across large scales.