I am passionate about the richness of life on Earth, so I initially trained as a conservation biologist and evolutionary ecologist (studying pollination systems), then switched to the social sciences during an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in “science and society” at the University of California at Santa Barbara. From a young age, I wanted to be a biologist, but during my studies I realized that the scale of the environmental and other challenges we face requires more than the insights of just natural science. It became increasingly clear to me that biology is not enough: current challenges require much more insight into human values and worldviews.
My current research concerns various dimensions of the ways that people in society understand and relate to the science of biodiversity conservation in an era of tremendous and rapid global change. My past research has focused on stakeholder perceptions of assisted colonization and invasive species, with support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
My research is interdisciplinary because it involves diverse disciplines without borders. I have published empirical research in the biological and social sciences, as well as “humanistic” and critical/synthetic papers in fields as diverse as cognitive linguistics and philosophy of ecology. I have published numerous government reports, quite a few refereed journal articles, several popular magazine articles, and a few books.
I also collaborate with scholars in diverse fields, ranging across the natural sciences (e.g., conservation biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and invasion biology) and humanities and social sciences (e.g., communication, environmental ethics, history, linguistics, science studies, and sociology).
For more detailed descriptions of the different aspects of my research, please click on the drop-down menu above.
