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… [See more]
Aida Bagheri
M.S. Student
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Aida is a Master’s student in the Chaves Lab pursuing a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation. Aida’s broad research interests include environmental justice, social-ecological systems, and policy implementation to support stewardship of the environment and human well-being. Her project at Virginia Tech focuses on understanding factors that support historically underrepresented ethnoracial groups with their participation in outdoor recreation and environmental civic engagement…[See more]
Lísley Pereira Gomes
M.S. Student
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Lísley is broadly interested in the human dimensions of natural resource conservation and her current project in Dr. Chaves lab at Virginia Tech examines the effects of urbanization on household access to wildlife in the Brazilian Amazon. Lísley completed her undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences and Environmental Sciences at Universidade Federal de Alfenas, southeastern Brazil, in 2013. Since 2014 Lísley has been working with sustainable resource use in the Brazilian Amazon, collaborating on projects related to community-based monitoring of wildlife use and wildlife management. She is a member of the Latin-American Network of Women in Conservation, an associate researcher at the Mamiruá Institute of Sustainable Development (Brazil), and a member of the Research Network for Studies on Diversity, Conservation and Wildlife Use in the Amazon (RedeFauna, Brazil). [See more]
Kelsey Jennings
M.S. Student
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Kelsey is a master’s student in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation in the Chaves and Dayer Labs. Kelsey’s research interests encompass all things human dimensions and the outdoors. They focus on how historically underrepresented ethnoracial groups are engaging in wildlife viewing and how community science has the potential to bridge the gap between agencies and their BIPOC constituents. She will be surveying communities across the United States, but more thoroughly in her home state of Minnesota, to help agencies understand how to best serve the shifting dynamics of their usership base… [See more]
Zoie McMillian
Ph.D Student
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Zoie joined the Chaves lab in Fall 2022 as a PhD student. Zoie has always had a deep love for animals and a passion for learning about the various ways in which she can serve them. Zoie graduated Cum Laude from Virginia Tech in 2020 with a B.S. in Animal and Poultry Sciences. Zoie’s master’s degree studies at the University of Maryland were centered around poultry welfare. Her past research consisted of investigating whether broiler welfare on commercial farms in eastern Maryland could be improved by increasing air flow with industrial circulation fans. While she has a background in animal welfare and behavior, wildlife species have always fascinated her the most. Additionally, she has a specific interest in reptile conservation. She is happy to come back to Virginia Tech and join the Chaves lab, where she will be researching social and ecological aspects of turtle conservation in Virginia along to better understand and prevent the illegal collection and trade of native turtles in North America…[See more]
Lena Mahyoub
Undergraduate Research Assistant
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Lena is a third-year undergraduate studying Environmental Conservation and Society, with a particular interest in DEI. In Dr. Chaves lab, they have assisted with program evaluation partnered with Humble Hikes, a nonprofit whose aim is to get underrepresented youth into outdoor recreation. Lena also works as a research technician in the lab, assisting Aida Bagheri with her research on outdoor recreation and environmental civic engagement in Black, Latine and Asian communities. [See more]