CSS Behaviour Change - Living Desert
The IUCN CSS Behavior Change at The Living Desert was created as a partnership between The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, the IUCN Species Survival Commission, and the IUCN Behaviour Change Task Force to respond to the pressing capacity building needs of IUCN member organizations in addressing the human dimensions of conservation around the world.
The Living Desert, located in Palm Desert, California has been a global leader in training conservationists in the basics of social science research and community engagement since 2018. The IUCN CSS Behavior Change at The Living Desert’s mission is to assist conservation organizations around the world in addressing the root causes of why species are declining. Species are threatened because of the impacts of human behavior. Therefore, studying and changing human behavior must be a core part of conservation work.
The CSS Behavior Change at The Living Desert trains and supports conservation organizations all over the world to address the human-centered causes of species decline. It also aids in promoting voluntary behavioral changes beneficial to Indigenous people and local communities, as well as to the natural world in which they live.
Our training workshops and research support help conservationists be better equipped to learn from communities living in and near their conservation projects. The Living Desert is actively working in 12 different countries and has trained over 600 individuals from over 32 countries to build capacity in social science research and related supportive evaluations of behavioral change work. By including behavior change as a focus in conservation projects, we can truly address the root cause of species decline and work to reverse the red among IUCN listed species.
Supporting the Species Conservation Cycle
1
Building Community Conservation Success In-Person Social Science Training Workshops
The future of conservation must focus on working with local people who determine the success of conservation projects. The Living Desert’s social science training workshops help to promote a just world that values and conserves nature through positive action to both prevent the loss and aid the recovery of diversity of life on Earth. We offer in-person training programs in desert-adjacent conservation settings that enable participants to conduct the basics of social science research. These skills are essential for being able to understand and collaborate with local people. Programs are typically 5 days long, but can be modified as needed. Both general introduction and follow-up data analysis-specific workshops are available.
2
Ongoing Support of Social Science Research
Although working with and learning from local people is essential, conducting social science research can be quite challenging. The Living Desert assists those on their social science research journey. We provide support to partners for any useful step in the process including: methodological design, survey or script creation, planning, data management and analysis, and interpretation. By partnering with the IUCN Behaviour Change Task Force, we will ensure that the best practices in Behaviour Change can be the focus of our training efforts. In this way, we build capacity to ensure that conservationists are able to independently improve their conservation work through social science.
3
Virtual Social Science Training Programs
Although we can only offer so many of our in-person Building Community Conservation Success social science workshops, The Living Desert will also provide virtual training for conservationists who are interested in doing shorter experiences to build capacity. These can be designed and tailored to the content and duration needs and priorities of the interested participants, ranging from a short hour-long introduction to social science research up to a week-long process.
Dr. James Danoff-Burg, Vice President of Conservation
Dr. James Danoff-Burg is an educator, conservation strategist, social science researcher, and biodiversity scientist focused on the human dimensions of conservation. For the past two decades, his research, teaching, and conservation implementation actions have helped to document and then reduce the negative effects of human activities on biodiversity in 36 countries through community-based conservation interventions. He is currently the Vice President of Conservation at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, California, working on projects with an emphasis on North American, African, and Mongolian ecosystem conservation through engaging the people in the areas surrounding the projects.
He received his B.A. from the University of Michigan, and M.A. and Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Kansas. He has been a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vermont, a Samuel Research Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, professor and researcher at Columbia University, Director of Conservation Education at the San Diego Zoo, an Adjunct Research Scientist and Adjunct Professor at University of California San Diego and California State University San Marcos, an independent researcher and evaluator for zoos and aquariums around the world, and a two-time Fulbright Specialist working with the Applied Environmental Research Foundation in India and with the Southern African Wildlife College in South Africa.
James strives to conserve ecosystems by engaging nearby residents as conservation leaders. The importance of hope for the future of conservation is central to all of Dr. Danoff-Burg’s work. When people from young children to community elders learn about nature, develop a passion for its care, become leaders in local conservation, and implement successful approaches and tools, all are empowered to live sustainably with our rich natural world. Building and supporting social science skill development among conservation biologists to be able to better work with, learn from, and support local communities is core to his every professional activity.
Dr. James Danoff-Burg is an educator, conservation strategist, social science researcher, and biodiversity scientist focused on the human dimensions of conservation. For the past two decades, his ...
Katie Shaw, Conservation Social Scientist
Katie Shaw is a social scientist focused on the human dimensions of wildlife and conservation. She is currently a Conservation Social Scientist at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, CA. She received her M.S. in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho and her B.S. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh. Katie has led and worked on a number of different research and community-based conservation projects, focusing on behavior change campaigns, environmental education evaluations, and capacity building among Indigenous People and Local Communities. Katie has years of experience conducting both qualitative and quantitative research and has worked with partners across many sectors, including governmental, non-profit, and the public. She leads The Living Desert’s work with the Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit in South Africa, including conducting a social impacts assessment, as well as behavior change campaigns for desert tortoise conservation across southern California. She co-teaches the Building Community Conservation Success social science workshop across southern and eastern Africa. She co-leads the Torres Martinez Youth Environmental Ambassador program and the Native American Conservation Workforce Development program. She is a key organizer for the annual International Desert Conservation Summit that is hosted at The Living Desert.
Katie Shaw is a social scientist focused on the human dimensions of wildlife and conservation. She is currently a Conservation Social Scientist at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, CA ...