Dr. Ashley Dayer, Virginia Tech, will present, "Co-producing strategies to promote conservation behavior on coastal and working lands," as part of the UMCES Appalachian Laboratory's Visiting Scholar Seminar Series.
The Earth is undergoing the sixth mass extinction, in which entire classes of biodiversity will be lost. Research indicates this accelerating mass extinction is largely human-caused and a great threat to human civilization, requiring urgent action. Biological science has long informed the strategies for conservation, highlighting which populations are most in need of action and associated limiting factors. Yet, biological research stops short of informing social feasibility and effectiveness of conservation strategies in influencing human behavior, leaving the core of conservation plans to assumptions about what will work, rather than science-based strategies to promote human behavior change. The crucial role of social science in informing effective and culturally-appropriate conservation strategies is increasingly essential. Dr. Dayer will discuss her efforts to advance integration of social sciences that informs effective conservation planning and decision making, while also supporting growth of social science capacity in the conservation community. She will focus on examples from her work on coastal and working forest and agricultural lands, demonstrating how teams of ecologists, social scientists, conservation decision-makers, and stakeholders can work together to tackle wicked challenges.
Seminars are held on Fridays at 11am in Room 109 of the UMCES Appalachian Laboratory unless otherwise specified. All sessions are open to the public, but please note that these are scientific talks intended for scientific audiences. For more information on our public events intended for general audiences please visit our Watershed Moments Community Learning Series website.
