Current Postdocs

Rich von Furstenberg

Postdoctoral Research Associate in PRTM at NC State (started in 2024); Email: rjvonfur@ncsu.edu

Background: Rich recently completed his PhD at NC State studying attitudes, beliefs, and values towards hunting and fishing. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from Texas A&M (2001) at Galveston (T.A.M.U.G) and during his time there worked for T.A.M.U.G’s Sea Camp. As a camp counselor he worked to educate school-aged children about the marine ecosystem and directed a nightly fishing program for the resident campers. Shortly after graduating he branched into a medical research career focused on the study of gastrointestinal physiology and pathology at Baylor College of Medicine (2001-2007). He then went on to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2007-2015) where he completed his Masters in Cell and Molecular Physiology. He continued studying esophageal stem cells at Duke University (2015-2020). Ready for a change, he has now come full circle, back to his passion for the outdoors and seeks to engage others by first understanding their perspectives regarding outdoor recreation. (Hometown: Houston, TX)

Research Interests: Rich’s research focuses on understanding the attitudes, beliefs, and values that people have towards hunting and fishing. He is especially interested in using this information to identify impediments to recruiting non-traditional stakeholders (i.e., historically marginalized and underserved populations) into hunting and fishing. He is also curious about cultures, subcultures, and identities around hunting, fishing, and shooting sports.

Youngjae Won

Postdoctoral Research Associate in PRTM at NC State (started in 2025); Email: ywon3@ncsu.edu

Background: Youngjae recently completed a PhD in Public Administration and Policy at Arizona State University, specializing in green space equity and data analytics. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 2013, along with a minor in Science and Technology Policy. While mixing up chemical compounds in labs, he developed a keen interest in applying computational and quantitative methods to study broader social and policy challenges. This interest led him to transition from natural science to social science, earning a Master of Public Administration at Korea University (2014–2016) and a PhD at Arizona State University (2019–2024) after completing three years of mandatory military service as a lecturer in the Department of Public Administration at the Korea Army Academy at Yeong-cheon (Hometown: Seoul, South Korea).

Research Interests: Youngjae’s research centers on urban environmental policy issues, with a particular emphasis on environmental justice related to the access and use of green spaces. He leverages novel data sources like smartphone location data to perform geospatial analyses and run quasi-experiments. His research seeks a nuanced understanding of the spatial distribution and usage of green spaces, as well as identifying drivers and mitigators of green space inequity.

Current Graduate Students

Sweta Dixit

Pursuing a Ph.D. in PRTM at NC State (started in 2023); Email: sdixit2@ncsu.edu

Background: Sweta has an MS in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from the University of Tennessee (2023) and a BS in Environmental Science from Tribhuvan University, Nepal (2018). During her undergraduate degree, she developed an interest in the human dimensions of wildlife. After graduating, she conducted research on human-wildlife conflict, ecotourism potential, and anthropogenic disturbances in and around protected areas. She continued pursuing her research interest in her master’s thesis, which was focused on evaluating the effectiveness of the Park Revenue Sharing policy in reducing park-people conflict. She has also advocated for climate change and environmental education as a member, Advocacy Head for Nepal, and Chief Director of a youth-led Philippines-based organization, the Alpha Team Organization’s ClimatEducate Project, since 2017. (Hometown: Kathmandu, Nepal)

Research interests: Sweta is interested in conservation social science. From her research experiences, she believes there is a significant gap in adopting appropriate protected area management strategies and managing park-people conflict, especially in developing countries that are rich in biodiversity. Therefore, she is interested in understanding different park management strategies in the global context for guiding appropriate policy decisions by integrating human activities with ecological communities, protecting and optimizing park resources, and contributing to conflict management.

Brooklynn Joyner

Pursuing a Ph.D. in PRTM at NC State (started in 2021); bmnewber@ncsu.edu

Background: Brooklynn has a Bachelor of Science in Plant Biology from North Carolina State University (2016). She spent her undergraduate and post-graduate years in the broader field of ecology, conducting research abroad for a short period of time in Brazil before acting as lab manager for a plant disease ecology lab at UNC Chapel Hill (2017 – 2021). During this time, she was also deeply engaged in teaching, mentorship, and science communication. This ignited her passion for science education and shifted her perspective on achieving environmental and conservation goals via a human-centered, social science approach. Brooklynn has now returned to NC State as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow to pursue her doctorate with this new direction. As a first-generation college student from rural NC, she aims for her research to empower local, underserved communities through accessible, equitable, and high-quality science education programs. (Hometown: Pinetops, NC)

Research interests: Brooklynn is broadly interested in exploring how informal science education programs can be used to improve scientific literacy and prompt action in public communities. Her current research focuses on the participant learning outcomes of citizen science projects and how the design of these projects can be improved as a science education tool for the public.

Kushagra Meshram

Pursuing a Ph.D. in PRTM at NC State (started in 2024); Email: kmeshra@ncsu.edu

Background: Kush hails from a remote region of Chhattisgarh in India. With his bachelor’s in Forestry and training as a wildlife biologist at the Wildlife Institute of India, he studied satellite collared elephants’ movement and habitat use in Central-Indian landscape for his Master’s dissertation. His work with elephants motivated him to explore questions related to landscape level conservation and protected area management. Subsequently, he studied “Peripheries of Protected Areas in India” through a geospatial lens for his diploma in Environmental Law and Policy. He is involved in capacity building of the forest department personnel in India and supplements policy formulation in his home state. He enjoys wildlife photography and tracking large mammals on foot. He is also the founder of Rewild Education – a network of wildlife biologists committed to science communication. (Hometown: Bastar, India)

Research interests: Kush’s current research interests include combining protected area management, conservation education and sustainable tourism from an applied perspective while building upon his previous work to help policy formulation and mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation in various sectors. 

Other Students Currently Working with the Lab

TBD…

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