Dr. Willandia Chaves

Assistant Professor

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Dr. Chaves is a conservation scientist working with the human dimensions of fish and wildlife conservation, using tools and methods from different fields, including Conservation Psychology, Economics, Human Geography, Wildlife Management, and Environmental Education. Her research aims to understand how people make decisions about their use of natural resources and, in turn, use this understanding to foster more sustainable behaviors and influence policy. Some research topics she is interested in include wildlife trade, how urbanization affects people and biodiversity (addressing questions like “What levels of access and connection to nature do urban residents have, especially minority groups?”, and “What are the levels of demand for wildlife and other natural resources in urban areas?”), and cutting-edge approaches to collecting sensitive information of natural resource use (e.g. illegal wildlife trade).