Current Students & Advisees
Current Postdocs
Rich von Furstenberg
Postdoctoral Research Associate in PRTM at NC State (started in 2024)
Email: rjvonfur@ncsu.ed
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 (starting in 2025)
Email: coming soon
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.
Audrey Fatone
Pursuing an M.S. in PRTM at NC State (started in 2023)
Email: afatone@ncsu.edu
Background: Audrey has a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (2021). Her favorite courses were in plant and fungal ecology. She also enjoyed conservation work during the summers in the Adirondack Park and White Mountain National Forest. Post graduation, Audrey traveled the country via seasonal employment. Projects included tracking the recovery of rare alpine vegetation in NY state as a result of the Summit Stewardship program, a visitor use study for Utah’s National Forests, tundra plant ecology research on Alaska’s North Slope, and an outdoor education program on the coast of California. She resumed her academic education to gain a better understanding of outdoor recreation management and how to protect the places she loves so deeply. (Hometown: Exton, PA).
Research interests: Audrey has a broad interest in visitor use management and recreation ecology. She is curious about the ways outdoor recreation can be managed to protect fragile resources while simultaneously creating an inclusive visitor experience. Her Master’s research will include a visitor use monitoring project for the North Carolina State park system.
Julianna Duran Jolley
Pursuing an M.S. in PRTM at NC State (started in 2022)
Email: jduran3@ncsu.edu
Background: Julianna has a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Conservation and a Minor in Biology from Virginia Tech (2020). Throughout her undergraduate career, Julianna was interested in population dynamics and wildlife physiology. She had the opportunity to intern with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study ornate box turtle distributions and was accepted into the College of Charleston REU Program where she researched Mozambique Tilapia and Nile Crocodile Lipidomics. Although her background is heavily rooted in traditional wildlife biology, she discovered the Human Dimensions of Fish and Wildlife her senior year after taking a course with Dr. Ashley Dayer. Since then, Julianna has shifted her focus to conservation social science and plans on using both branches of science to address and improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice issues in conservation. (Hometown: Washington, D.C.)
Research interests: Julianna is broadly interested in diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice within environmental conservation. As a Hispanic/Latina woman, she understands what it means to be a minority in this field and the exclusion that many BIPOC communities face when it comes to conservation science and management. She plans on using her research to address environmental racism, amplify the voices of systematically marginalized groups, and implement solutions that will benefit these communities as well as the biodiversity they share land with. In the future, she plans on becoming a human dimensions professor and emphasizing her mentorship role – especially for underrepresented and first generation students.
Brooklyn Joyner
Pursuing a Ph.D. in PRTM at NC State (started in 2021)
Email: 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: Kushagra 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
Bella Insignares (hmmazesk@ncsu.edu), MNR student in FWCB. Hometown: Clayton, NC. Role & Research Interests: Bella is pursuing an accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s degree in FWCB, with a focus on environmental education. Bella has spent the past three years as a Park Attendant at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center, where she teaches nature-art workshops, works on her Environmental Educator’s certification, and shares her enthusiasm for urban wetlands with the public. Having the privilege to work in an area deeply shaped by environmental justice activism, Bella finds herself most interested in accessibility and communication within the field and beyond.
Genevieve Myers (gmmeyers@ncsu.edu), Undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Sciences. Role: Research assistant on USFS-funded project titled Engaging diverse communities in urban greening efforts: Lessons learned and pathways to success.
Are you a student interested in joining our Lab? Click here for more information.