Brian is a conservation social scientist based at Oregon State University. He is a postdoctoral scholar supervised by Dr. Megan Jones in the Human Dimensions lab in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences. As an interdisciplinary social scientist, he listens to understand how others see and make sense of the world. Brian loves applying his social science toolkit to address real-world conservation and environmental challenges. Despite his background as an educator, he rarely believes that "raising awareness" will lead to change.
Brian's research focuses on applying social and behavioral science to conservation practice to support human well-being and environmental sustainability. His prior work included an examination of trust, distrust, and emotions related to Oregon’s marine reserve system and development of a high school ocean acidification curriculum. Brian’s three current projects seek to (1) explore perceptions of salmon and steelhead hatcheries in Oregon, (2) understand how to support private landowner-beaver coexistence, and (3) refine a series of training modules on the science behind successful interdisciplinary team science.
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Brian's training includes a B.A. in Biology from Lewis & Clark College, an M.S. in Teaching Secondary Biology from Fordham University, an M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University, and a Ph.D. in Fisheries Social Science from Oregon State University. He has a highly varied professional background with an emphasis on formal and informal education as well as social and biological research.