Brian Crawford, PhD
decision scientist / conservation ecologist

Conservation issues are complex - we usually have to consider multiple threats to wildlife, management options, groups of people with different objectives, and areas of uncertainty. I am interested in applying interdisciplinary approaches that consider both ecological and social dimensions to better characterize such problems and identify effective solutions. Specifically, I use decision analysis to meet this goal. This approach is inclusive of stakeholders' perspectives, integrates information from diverse research (e.g., population modeling, sociological surveys) and expert opinion, and acknowledges important tradeoffs to identify better conservation decisions. I am also interested in building partnerships within communities where human-wildlife conflicts occur, strategically communicating with diverse groups to understand their relationships with nature and convey scientific information via outreach and education, and using social marketing and tools from other sectors to change people’s attitudes and behaviors toward wildlife.

 

Interest keywords: Decision analysis, ecological modeling, Bayesian analysis, human dimensions, wildlife ecology, conservation management, human-wildlife conflicts, human behavior change, road ecology, herpetology