I am a research fellow in the Department of Biology, with the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU). I study conservation conflicts: acrimonious social divisions over biodiversity conservation and governance.

I collaborate closely with non-academic conservation professionals working on real-world conflicts. We use quantitative methods to measure people’s attitudes, beliefs, and policy preferences. Through this research, we generate new knowledge on how different groups think about some of the thorniest issues in biodiversity conservation, supporting practically orientated and evidence-led decisions on politically contentious topics.

I have ongoing research projects in Scotland (deer management, woodland restoration, potential Eurasian lynx reintroduction), the United States (deer management, carnivore coexistence, wildlife decision-making and governance), Germany (hunting, carnivore coexistence), and southern and East Africa (human-wildlife conflicts, protected areas management, community-led natural resource management, hunting).

Before becoming an academic, I worked for nine years in public policy and directed knowledge exchange projects that brought together research producers (e.g. academics) and research users (e.g. civil servants, business leaders, NGO staff, community representatives). I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of this work at interface between research and policy.

I have an MA(Hons) in Moral and Political Philosophy from the University of Glasgow and a PhD in Natural Resources from Cornell University. I am a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University.