Projects

Message Design to Motivate Conservation Action

ACTIVE
Convincing people to change their behaviors is integral to conservation. Changes in behaviors such as replacing detrimental actions with alternatives or encouraging entirely new, positive activities can be promoted by message framing using motivation science. In this study, we conduct a qualitative content analysis to … Continued

Areas of Expertise

Community Wellbeing in Nature

ACTIVE
The key purposes of these community tickets for Tāmaki Makaurau communities are to 1) Give equitable opportunities for diverse and often underserved communities across Tāmaki Makaurau to access the Zoo for a visit, 2) Support whānau to spend time together to build social cohesion and … Continued

Areas of Expertise

Effect of Plant Exposure on Human Health

ACTIVE
We are exploring, through a series of experiments, the extent to which exposure to more or less plant diversity impacts human health, especially recovery from stressful experiences.

Eliminating End-of-life Plastics

ACTIVE
Eliminating End-of-life Plastics requires technological advances to maximize recycling and recovery, behavioral understanding to influence consumer attitude, and economic approaches to incentivize the extension of product life. Each alternative involves trade-offs in its social acceptability, economic feasibility, environmental sustainability, and circularity. The overall goal of … Continued

Areas of Expertise

Larger than Lions: A Collaborative Community-to-Community Photovoice Project to Protect People and Predators near Mikumi National Park in Tanzania

ACTIVE
This a a National Geographic funded project to advance conservation research in Tanzania by enlisting diverse stakeholders, including youth, villagers, park rangers, and conservation experts in a co-investigation of the drivers and solutions to human-lion conflict near the Mikumi National Park. Our strategy for success … Continued

Areas of Expertise

Testing Models of Environmental Positivity

ACTIVE
This project aims to corroborate postulates of the Positive Environment model my team and I have recently specified. According to this model, a positive environment contains satisfiers of human needs, instigators of sustainable behaviors, and environmental challenges. These three elements work in combination and in … Continued

Areas of Expertise

Co-Designing Conservation With (not For) Our Neighbors

ACTIVE
Dr. Cranston directs this multi-year project by applying conservation psychology principles directly to the co-design of conservation projects with (not for) communities across the United States. This project helps the conservation organizations she works with to build upon their own capacity to enhance equitable engagement in conservation … Continued

Areas of Expertise