My research interests focus on individual and group behavior as it relates to environmental stewardship with an emphasis on the role of natural resource users and landowners in protecting biodiversity and imperiled ecosystems. My work is situated in the social dilemma framework in which conservation over the long term is considered essential to sustaining human well being; yet, people opt instead for their short-term self interest. This yields human behaviors and land management practices that result in increasing losses in ecosystem function and services. I investigate the prospects for sustainable behavior across marine and terrestrial environments as well as in recreation/tourism settings and on private lands.
Interest Areas: Human dimensions of natural resource management, conservation on private lands, incentive programs and conservation policy, natural resource recreation, recreation specialization, human-wildlife interactions, land ownership demographics & land use, attitudes & social norms, behavior assessment, research methods, data analysis.