RESEARCH
My life-long love of wildlife led me to study environmental studies and economics, a combination that appears almost contradictory on the surface, yet is critical to ensure both effective and practical policy.
This initial interdisciplinary approach has resulted in a career of exploring how concepts and methods from ecology, economics, sociology, psychology, and other fields can be leveraged to solve wildlife conservation and management problems.
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My research focuses on how stakeholders make conservation and management decisions, how stakeholders communicate and discuss conservation and management, and how the two influence each other.
EDUCATION
CURRENT RESEARCH
Public perceptions of Chronic Wasting Disease in Texas
A large-n survey investigating the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of landowners in CWD-affected counties and TX hunters.
2014 - 2018
University of Florida
Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Ecology
Human-elephant conflict in Sabah, Borneo
A qualitative study exploring human-elephant conflict through an environmental justice lens.
Testing communication strategies to increase Houston toad Safe Harbor Agreement enrollment
A quantitative survey to a) identify the most salient content for various landowner typologies, and b) determine optimal SHAs given landowner preferences.
North Carolina migratory bird hunters' attitudes towards Sunday hunting
Data analysis of a large-n survey exploring a) the factors that shape support/opposition for Sunday hunting, and b) how behaviors would change if Sunday hunting were legalized.
2012 - 2014
University of Delaware
Master's in Energy and Environmental Policy
2008 - 2012
Gettysburg College
B.S, Environmental Studies, Economics