IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

I'm an Associate Professor at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London. I am interested in improving initiatives and policy that impacts the persistence of species and people's wellbeing. My research focuses on challenges associated with the adoption, spread and impact of conservation initiatives. I have advised government within the United Kingdom and Brazil. For example, by providing guidance on priority areas for restoration in Brazil and insights into how to assess the likelihood project will scale.

The impact of my work has been recognised by the REF (UK’s Research Excellence Framework). I was the Scientific Chair for the International Congress for Conservation Science 2017, the Society for Conservation Biology’s biannual conference, and hold an editorial role in Conservation Biology. At Imperial College London, I am the Director of the Masters for Conservation Science and Practice and lead my departments EDI committee.   

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DUKE UNIVERSITY

I am a Research Fellow with the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, internationally recognized for my scientific and strategic leadership.

My research focuses on environmental governance and nature conservation, particularly the emergence, evolution, and impacts of conservation initiatives.

I publish in leading academic journals and have advised government agencies, civil society organizations, and donors on six continents. I previously served as head of the Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science at Conservation International, President of the Board of Governors for the Society for Conservation Biology (the first social scientist to do so), founding co-Editor in Chief of Conservation Letters, and as founding President of the Society for Conservation Biology’s Social Science Working Group (SCB SSWG).

I am also a former AAAS Fellow. In 2011, I received the SCB Early Career Award for my work to advance conservation social science and its application to conservation policy. I hold a PhD in Environmental Politics and Policy from Duke University and a bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College.

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NATURE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

I am a conservation social scientist committed to developing integrative and inclusive solutions to conservation challenges. I lead the Conservation Social Sciences Programme at Nature Conservation Foundation, where my research focuses on understanding how conservation can be just, effective, and scale to respond to our climate and biodiversity crises. In my research, I draw on theories of scaling, social networks, and cognitive anthropological approaches to decision-making.

My work has taken me to explore the seascapes of western and eastern coasts of India, Fiji, and Madagascar, and the forest landscapes of the Himalayas in India and Guyana. I hold a PhD in Forestry and Natural Resources from the University of Georgia, USA, and a Master’s in Environmental Studies from TERI School of Advanced Studies, India.

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IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

I study why people make decisions in their local environments—such as planting or cutting trees, managing livestock, fishing, or joining conservation projects—and the impacts of these choices on the environment, themselves, and their communities. To explore these topics, I use a wide range of quantitative tools across an equally wide range of places and scales.

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IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

I am working across several projects looking at when conservation initiatives go to scale, the motivations behind adoption of conservation initiatives, and why some initiatives might be abandoned. I have previously worked on the effects of anthropogenic stressors on insect pollinators, and the evolutionary biology of cognition in bees as a model system.

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IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

I am passionate about ecosystem restoration, particularly understanding what drives landholders to engage in it. Currently, I am studying the uptake of mixed native woodland creation interventions in Scotland. My aim is to produce key insights for the design and delivery of future ecosystem restoration efforts, contributing to boost adoption while minimising negative environmental and social impacts. This could assist in unlocking the huge potential of ecosystem restoration to address the current global environmental crisis.

• PhD Thesis: “To plant or not to plant? Drivers of native woodland creation in the UK”

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IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

My research interests include understanding the socio-ecological impacts of environmental policies and studying the equity implications of conservation decisions. I have experience in qualitative and empirical research methods and have worked on projects in India, Brazil, and the UK. Currently, I'm working on my PhD, which compares farmers' engagement in private land restoration in Brazil and India.

• PhD Thesis: “Why should we plant trees?”

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IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

I am interested in how conservation initiatives can scale in ways that support both biodiversity and social justice. My PhD research is focused on social equity in the rapidly expanding rangeland stewardship model Herding for Health. I use mixed methods to analyse peoples’ experiences of the initiative in South Africa, and I aim to inform more inclusive approaches to scaling through collaborations with Conservation International and Meat Naturally. Previously, I led the research team at the nature market start-up Earthly, and I have an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management from the University of Oxford, and a BSc in Zoology from the University of Manchester.

• PhD Thesis: “Scaling conservation fairly: Investigating social equity in rangeland stewardship adoption pathways”

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IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

I'm a board member of the IAMAR Institute and a PhD candidate at Imperial College London. I graduated in Biological Sciences from the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) and completed my master's in Conservation Project Management at the University of Kent (UK). In 2023, I began my PhD in Environmental Policy. I am currently working with indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon forest, focusing on the relationship between their governance and wildlife conservation. My main interests in conservation involve bridging the gap between academia and practical actions on the ground, as well as scaling up conservation projects to bring socioeconomic benefits to local communities.

• PhD Thesis: “Implications of the nighttime traffic restriction on the BR-174 highway within the Waimiri-Atroari Indigenous Territory for local communities and biodiversity conservation”

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DURRELL INSTITUTE OF CONSERVATION AND ECOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF KENT

MOORE CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND SOLUTIONS, CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND I-X CENTRE FOR AI IN SCIENCE, IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE; CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

INDEPENDENT RESEARCHER