Doctoral Dissertation Research: Rewilding, Wildlife Conservation Decision-Making, and Environmental Change

Protecting the habitats for threatened or endangered wildlife in national parks and reserves has been a long-standing practice of wildlife conservation. However, the effects of climate change on these protected habitats demands a reconsideration of whether or not this model is effective. Recent scholarship has suggested that the conservation methodology of rewilding – the reintroduction or stabilization of wildlife populations as a way to restore ecosystems – provides an alternative. Its emphasis on dispersing wildlife through corridors might provide species with greater flexibility to migrate within and between warming ecosystems. This research examines the implementation of rewilding projects to assess how the effects of climate change on wildlife habitats influence scientific practices on the ground. In addition to training a doctoral student in ethnographic methods and analysis, this research should provide evidence of how conservation scientists and practitioners confront the reality of changing climates in their efforts to prevent extirpation and extinction. Research findings will be shared with conservation organizations (non-governmental and governmental) and will be published in both academic and non-academic avenues in order to raise public awareness regarding the seriousness of climate change for threatened wildlife. The central question of this project asks whether, how, and why climate change informs stakeholder responses to and decisions about wildlife conservation. To answer this, research will be conducted among several groups of stakeholders including conservation philanthropists, scientists, state officials, and local communities. By integrating perspectives from actors involved in or affected by rewilding projects, this research tests for the cultural, economic, scientific, and/or political concerns that guide conservation decision-making. This research brings together frameworks from Science Studies and political ecology to provide new theoretical insights into how recourse to scientific expertise, political power, and economic influence inflects climate change responses. Through employing ethnographic methods like participant observation and in-depth interviews, this project demonstrates the importance of anthropological investigation in climate change research. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.