Michelle Lute, interdisciplinary conservation scientist, will present "From Actors to Actions: How Emotions, Identity and Morals Shape Wildlife Stewardship" at 3:30 p.m., Sept. 16 in the Hardin Hall auditorium (room 107). The seminar is free and open to the public.
Despite increasing support for conservation globally, controversy over specific conservation policies persists among diverse stakeholders. Quantifying moral judgments of conservation can increase understanding about why people support or oppose policy, especially related to human-wildlife conflict. Cognitive and emotional judgments can underlay moral judgments, which may in turn influence behaviors and policy-making that impacts wildlife.
To date, moral judgments of human-wildlife conflict have mostly gone unconsidered and unmeasured by conservation social scientists. Thus, policy and programmatic efforts to reduce controversy are missing a key part of the equation. Lute will present results from her research aimed at filling this knowledge gap in relation to wolf management in Michigan. Greater understanding of the factors affecting human conflict over wildlife and influences on human behaviors can help foster cooperation among stakeholders and garner support for conservation in controversial policy contexts.
Lute is interested in advancing knowledge about human-environment interactions to improve conservation efforts in myriad contexts. Her research interests are diverse yet united in a common pursuit of understanding ecological, moral and psychological dimensions of human behaviors that directly or indirectly affect wildlife.
The ultimate objective of Lute's work is to promote human-wildlife coexistence through effective participatory processes and evidence-based decision-making that takes a tripartite approach addressing ethics, science and practice. Her work has spanned issues from water to wolves and across the globe from Madagascar to Michigan. She started her career in habitat restoration as a lumberjack for the National Park Service and holds degrees from Valparaiso University, University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University. Lute lives wherever her work takes her with two equally adventurous dogs.