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WildCRU’s Laura Perry completes her DPhil viva

Congratulations to Laura Perry who has completed her DPhil viva from Mozambique over zoom, with thanks to her examiners Dr Andy Gosler and Dr Silvio Marchini.

Conservation outcomes depend heavily on human behaviour, but very little research focuses on these decision-making processes. In her thesis, Laura used tools from social psychology to explore how different social variables such as norms or attitudes affect overall livestock management behaviour, and in turn impact conflict between people and predators across sub-Saharan Africa. Laura’s research shows that certain psychological factors, in particular social norms, can substantially impact people’s behaviour, and her post-doctoral work will continue to explore how to adapt these approaches into conservation interventions to reduce conflict and benefit people and wildlife alike.