Projects

Dhorpotan Hunting Reserve is the only hunting reserve in Nepal. Our project aims to quantify the sustainability of wildlife harvests such as blue sheep and tahr, along with the economic and food security benefits the reserve provides to local communities and conservation.

Change is a natural process, but many of our wild food systems are undergoing rapid and fundamental changes; they are transforming. As scientists, we need to know more about how and why transformation happens. We are addressing these questions by studying social-ecological change and transformation for five years following the collapse of the sea cucumber fishery in Yucatán, Mexico. 

In collaboration with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, we are assessing the efficacy of diverse approaches for managing white-tailed deer in southern Michigan, and how reducing their abundance can improve food security and mitigate economic and environmental loss.

Small-scale inland fisheries are critical for hundreds of millions of livelihoods around the world. Many of these livelihoods belong to the post-harvest sector (fish processing and trade). Our work in Malawi analyzes survey data from more than 900 fishers and traders from 72 fish markets throughout the country to understand the distribution of food security and livelihood benefits from the country’s fisheries.

Harvest management requires accurate information on species abundance and distribution. We are using non-invasive techniques to estimate black bear abundance and distribution throughout Missouri, USA. These data will be used to improve population models allowing the Missouri Department of Conservation to establish hunting quotas that ensure black bear harvests are sustainable and within established goals.

Climate change represents an existential crisis to many of the world’s food systems, including aquatic food systems (fisheries and aquaculture). We are synthesizing knowledge about how climate change is affecting freshwater fisheries and aquaculture – and how people and policies are adapting. We observe clear differences between impacts and experiences in the Global North and Global South, with implications for vulnerability, risk, resilience, and justice. 

The purported effects of sport hunting wildlife on wildlife has been controversial, yet there has been no global assessment of the potential effects of sport hunting on mammals worldwide. Using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we aim to assess relationships between conservation and population status of mammal species worldwide that are sport hunted and also used for human food to determine whether large-scale impacts are occurring.

Ecosystem restoration usually aims to restore ecosystem function and enhance biodiversity, but what if restoring natural resource-dependent livelihoods were the main objective of ecosystem restoration, with biodiversity as a co-benefit? Our upcoming report with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations suggests there is much to be gained from rethinking restoration and guides practitioners to implement restoration for livelihoods and food security. 

Despite growing global recognition of small-scale fisheries, many fisheries remain overlooked. This is particularly true for safety net fisheries: small, often informal inland and coastal fisheries that are primarily oriented toward subsistence use and local food systems. Our work advances understanding of safety net fisheries through comparative case studies across Malawi, Namibia, Liberia, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Our work spans diverse aquatic systems, including lakes, rivers, floodplains, and coastal fisheries. By making visible the value of these “smallest of the small” fisheries, this research aims to inform policies, governance, and investments that better secure and support their contributions within equitable and nutrition-sensitive aquatic food systems.