ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION
A theme that cuts across all of these projects is ecological restoration. While much of the literature on conservation (across both the biophysical and social sciences) focuses on the protection of intact nature, there is a growing recognition that we need to rebuild landscapes that have been degraded or outright destroyed. My work sheds light on the human dimensions of restoration, asking questions like what does it mean for people to rebuild wildlife populations after war (as we see across Mozambique) or to reintroduce iinnii after its absence for over a century? The work shows that these human and ecological dimensions of restoration are beautifully interwoven. Our work here also supports teaching on ecological restoration through an interactive storymap on the topic that introduces students to what restoration is, why we need it, and what it looks like in diverse examples from around the world.
LIBBY LUNSTRUM 