Reyhane Rastgoo

IGC FELLOW    |   Global Change Center

Ph.D. Student  •  Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Advisor: Dr. Ashley Dayer

Research Interests: Quantitative and Qualitative Social Research, Conservation Social Science, Human-wildlife interactions, Human Dimensions of Wildlife

reyhanerastgoo@vt.edu • ResearchGate •  Personal Website  •  LinkedIn

Reyhane Rastgoo is a Ph.D. student at the Dr. Ashley Dayer Human Dimensions Lab in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech. With a solid academic background, including a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science and a master's degree in Biodiversity Conservation and Management from the University of Tehran, Reyhane brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her research endeavors.

During her exploration for her master's thesis, she discovered a captivating intersection between conservation and social science, leading her to delve deeper into the realm of human-wildlife interactions and the human dimensions of wildlife. Motivated by her curiosity about how cultural values and beliefs influence people's behavior toward wildlife and its conservation, Reyhane's academic journey has defined her scholarly interests.

Reyhane has a strong dedication to hands-on fieldwork, evident throughout her academic journey. For her master's thesis, she conducted a questionnaire-based study across 26 remote villages in Golestan province, Iran, assessing attitudes toward brown bears. She further expanded her research experience by engaging in projects that employed both quantitative and qualitative social research methodologies. This included a study on attitudes towards killing animals for conservation, surveying 390 students, and contributing to a project on beekeepers' attitudes toward bee-eaters in Firouzkuh, Iran, as a Research Assistant. Additionally, Reyhane conducted qualitative research involving semi-structured interviews with exotic pet owners to explore their motivations.

Reyhane will be doing research as a Graduate Research Assistant that centers around investigating the motivations behind longleaf pine landowners' participation in the Conservation Reserve Program. It will provide an excellent platform for her to get deeper and incorporate diverse methodologies and theories to enrich policy and management. Through a mixed-methods approach, she aims to uncover the factors influencing landowners' decisions, as well as the barriers they may encounter.

Reyhane is deeply committed to bridging the gap between academia and practical conservation efforts. She sees her research as a means to contribute meaningfully to the conservation field, ultimately striving to promote better coexistence between humans and nature. In pursuit of this goal, Reyhane is eager to join IGC community, further enhancing her interdisciplinary skills and broadening her understanding of conservation challenges, enabling her to approach her research with a multidisciplinary perspective and innovative thinking. For more information about Reyhane's work, visit her on LinkedIn, ResearchGate, and her Personal Website.