B.A., 1990, Biology and Anthropology (Double Major), Rice University
Ph.D, 1997, Behavioral Ecology/Anthropology, Harvard University
Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management and Conservation
I am interested in how we balance human needs with wildlife
conservation. To study this question, I explore people's conflicts
with large carnivores, past and present, in the USA and abroad. My
field research centers on conflicts involving mammalian
carnivores--particularly livestock predators. This line of inquiry
takes me into livestock husbandry, wildlife management, human and
carnivore behavior and methods for mitigating human-carnivore conflicts.
In the field, I measure the behavior of problem carnivores using spatial
predictive models and people's responses to and perceptions of conflicts.
My fieldwork is currently conducted in Wisconsin, Ecuador, and South Africa
with a variety of collaborators. My students work in Kenya (lions and hyenas)
and Ecuador (spectacled bears).
Conservation Planning
I am also interested in how conservation projects are planned from threats
assessment to intervention selection to monitoring for adaptive management.
I am currently collaborating with a team in Bolivia to document the stakeholder
participation, expert technical input, and policy process for selecting interventions
to mitigate human-wildlife conflicts.
Fall 2007 ENVST 400: Environmental Planning, Adaptive Management and Participatory Methods Goal: Students gain an understanding of adaptive management and the tools for systematic, science-based planning of environmental action. Applied research is presented as a feature of well-designed environmental action projects, helping to inform plans, implementation and monitoring activities. Participation of stakeholder groups in planning, research, implementation and monitoring is integrated throughout the course, along with criteria for determining the optimal level of stakeholder involvement. Approach: In the first third of the course, students will use the generic project management cycle to study stakeholder participation in planning, implementation and monitoring. They will learn how to articulate an environmental vision; define desired outcomes; assess threats and obstacles to attain those outcomes; prioritize and design interventions to abate threats and overcome obstacles; and design monitoring systems for adaptive management and measuring success. We test our new understandings by exploring the planning of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve on campus. In the second third of the course, I ask students to play the roles of stakeholders in multi-stakeholder threats assessment and intervention planning exercises. Each student will then experience optimal participation and practice skills needed for environmental planning facilitation. In the last third of the course, we delve more deeply into applied research in the social and natural sciences with a targeted focus on a topic of the students choosing. Students will work on team projects and also on an independent project, which they will present orally for peer evaluation and discussion.
ENVST 600: Wolf management and conservation: A Wisconsin perspective Gray wolf recovery has been the most contentious and acclaimed conservation success in US history. The wolf is symbolic for many people but depending on your value orientation, the species may be vilified or revered. Its recovery from near extinction in the USA was associated with a complex interplay of stakeholder groups including a revival of controversy over federal and state powers; at an individual level, wolf recovery was characterized by conflicting views of the role of humans in nature; and for scientists, wolf recovery was an important test of the integration of applied research into the policy process. Nowhere has this been more clear than in Wisconsin. In this course, we review the past 30 years of wolf recovery in our state as (i) a laboratory for understanding democratic participation in decision-making about natural resources, (ii) a lens to examine the role of research in public debate and policy formulation, and (iii) am experiment in biodiversity conservation in the face of fears for human safety, economy and property. Guest speakers will play an important role in our course to help provide different perspectives on wolf management in our state and beyond.? The course will include participation in a real-life stakeholder meeting about future wolf policy in Wisconsin.