Darragh Hare

Conservation conflicts - acrimonious social divisions over biodiversity conservation and governance - produce negative outcomes for both biodiversity and people. We have ongoing projects studying real-world conservation conflicts in Scotland (deer management, woodland restoration, potential reintroduction of Eurasian lynx), the United States (deer management, wildlife decision-making and governance), and sub-Saharan Africa (human-wildlife conflicts, protected areas, community-based natural resource management, hunting). In all of these projects we collaborate closely with non-academic conservation professionals. We use quantitative methods to describe the contours of specific conflicts, and use results to propose practically orientated ways to improve outcomes for biodiversity and people. I would be keen to hear from potential students with ideas for applied research projects that seek to attenuate or resolve specific conservation conflicts through field or online studies using methods from social psychology and related disciplines. I would also be keen to hear from potential students with ideas for more basic research projects that develop and test hypotheses about how people think about other species and their conservation using methods from evolutionary anthropology, evolutionary game theory, and evolutionary psychology.

Qualifications and Experience

PhD in Natural Resources, Cornell University; experience of supervising undergraduate, master's and PhD students and research staff