There are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other, and the relation of people to land.
— Aldo Leopold, Wherefore Wildlife Ecology?
I am a Senior Social Scientist with Mosaic Insights, part of the Alluvium Group. I consult on a range of research projects including:
- evaluating stewardship programs,
- assessing social implications of environmental flow options,
- using a social science informed approach for open space planning,
- co-designing fisheries management with First Nation groups,
- and measuring social values of waterways.
Previously, I was a Senior Research Fellow with the ICON Science Lab at RMIT University. There my research focused on evaluating the social dimensions of private land conservation, prioritizing conservation behavior change, and more recently examining the structural and social barriers to better offset policies and business and biodiversity.
I am the past President of the Society for Conservation Biology’s Social Science Working Group, which aims to strengthen conservation social science and its application to conservation practice.
Check out my passion project Please Keep to the Path, a website that seeks to increase the accessibility of behavioral insights to all who are interested in applying it to promote nature conservation.
Prior to my research career I worked in forest and prairie restoration projects in Minnesota and New York, and managed a protected area in West Africa, focused on primate conservation. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology and MSc from Imperial College London’s Interdisciplinary Conservation Program.
matthewselinske.com 