To study conservation, she studies people

Rachel Golden Kroner knows it well. Social Scientist at Conservation International, studies how societies manage and protect nature. As expected, the conservation of nature is as complex as humans are, as he recently explained to conservation news.

Ask: Why did you become a scientist?

Answer: I have always been interested in the voice (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields. As a undergraduate student, I spent a semester abroad in Ecuador, which caused my interests in conservation and field work. Through this program, I was able to visit some of the most biodiverse places in the world, from the Amazon jungle to the Galapagos Islands. I want to follow a master’s degree in sustainable development and conservation biology, and then a Ph.D. In environmental sciences and policies.

The more I learned about environmental science and conservation, the more interested I was interested in understanding the earth and how we interact with it.

As humans, we are shaping the planet and quickly exhausting our natural resources. Science is a tool that allows us to learn from what we have done in the past, make predictions about the future and point to a better way to move forward, so I have dedicated my career to help protect the planet.

P: So what does a social scientist have to do with environmental science?

TO: At the end of the day, conservation is people. We are changing the earth, using natural resources and equal to altering the climate through our behavior.

Social Sciences Research is very important because humans and our interactions with the natural world are very complex. Many different fields of study are needed to understand thesis interactions, such as geography, political science, anthropology and the economy, just to name a few. Gathering methods of different disciplines in social and natural sciences can help us better understand the world.

Most of my research focuses on the effectiveness of environmental governance systems, such as protected areas, earth or water sections reserved to limit human activity. Think of national parks, wildlife, indigenous reserves and directed by the community.

For example, after Amazon shoots [in August 2019] We learned from the data that most fires were burning outside protected areas and indigenous lands. These two types of environmental governance systems are completely different, but both were effective to reduce fires in certain areas. My work is to understand the flow and flow of these areas, providing a fundamental investigation to discover what works, where and why in conservation.

If we can understand how humans handle and interact with nature, we have a better opportunity to improve our efforts to protect the long -term planet.

Q: What are you working on now?

TO: At the moment, I am developing a conservation governance atlas along with colleagues from Conservation International and Partners. This is a tool with fascinating implications that will illustrate the unique types of conservation areas and how they have changed over time. Atlas will include public and private protected areas, indigenous lands and market -based mechanisms and other lands and water that contribute to conservation. The data on these systems are currently dispersed worldwide, but will soon be compiled in one place. This will help us answer key questions about the scale, types and impacts of different conservation systems, informing future decisions about how and where we protect nature.

The cornerstone of humanity’s efforts to preserve plants and wildlife are protected. They are really important for life on earth, including humans. For example, in the running region of Chingaza-Sumapaz-Guerrero of Colombia, an approach area for international conservation, protected areas help to provide fresh water to the 8 million residents of the city of Bogotá.

P: How is your research used?

TO: I am really proud of our work to raise the issue of legal reductions to protected areas, a phenomenon known as Paddd (degradation of the protected area, reduction and disorder). Protected are essential to conserve nature, and establishing it is only the beginning: keeping them intact is a crucial process that requires time, effort and financing.

My recent article discovered that governments have eliminated more than 50,000 square kilometers (19000 square miles) of protected areas and degrade protections for an addition of 1.65 million square kilometers (637,000 square miles). When monitoring long -term protected areas, including monitoring Paddd events and obtaining better protections, we can help ensure that protected areas fulfill their promise to preserve nature in the long term.

In Conservation International, we have great partners worldwide and a global network that helps us connect these findings with the people who need to know. By learning from adjusted Paddd events, governments and communities can make smart decisions about forest protection in the future, especially as we approach 2020, a crucial year for climate action and biodiversity.

P: Do you have any advice for young women interested in following an in voice?

TO: Women often face particular professional challenges, especially in Stem fields, from trust issues to salary equality. It is crucial to find the intersection between what the world needs, what you like to do, in what you are good and what you can pay you.

Each scientist must have a growth mentality. Instead of thinking “I am good about this” and “I am not good in that”, a growth mentality is about being open to learning and adaptation. In science, this means that space can be made to grow and reflect is really important because there is always much to learn: new research, methods and even disciplines. I just finished my Ph.D. But I have not finished learning, in fact, I am a course this week to master a new statistical technique!