Pathways Conference

This year's Pathways conference wrapped up with a plenary talk by Dr. Amy Dickman, a Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Oxford and Director of WildCRU.

Amy spoke about warriors, wildlife, and wellbeing, a case study from East Africa. Following Amy's talk, we wrapped up the conference with research presentations and interactive workshops before sending everyone on their way!

On Tuesday of this year's Pathways conference, we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Miles Richardson, Professor of Human Factors and Nature Connectedness at the University of Derby.

Miles spoke about uniting both human and nature’s well-being. After Miles' talk, we had a full day of research presentations, interactive workshops, and networking, before closing the day with our conference dinner.

We loved seeing the engagement on our conference app this year! We saw:
> 245 engaged attendees
> 588 direct messages between them
> 183 speakers/presenters who presented research in 58 sessions
> 25 community board posts to build connections

Thanks, all, for making our community more collaborative!

The Society for Human Dimensions of Wildlife (SHDW) is officially live—but this society doesn't just belong to the founders. It belongs to you.

The success, direction, and impact of SHDW will be shaped entirely by the energy and expertise of our global community. Whether you are a seasoned researcher, an agency practitioner, or a student just starting out, we want you to become a foundational part of this society.

We want to build a future where management decisions are equally informed by both social and ecological sciences. Let’s lay the stones for a more collaborative, evidence-based future together.

Ready to join SHDW? Tell us about yourself & how you would like to be involved here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccueZVZOTEUGSbdtv7o-UH6AnBFKKHU-Ub9Jn6HvY1C7jYCA/viewform?usp=header

Big news coming from the Pathways Europe 2026 Conference…

For 18 years, the Pathways community has proven that you can’t solve wildlife challenges without understanding human society, values, and culture. But our global field has grown too big to only connect once a year.

That’s why we are thrilled to officially announce the launch of the Society for Human Dimensions of Wildlife (SHDW)!

SHDW is a new non-profit society designed to be the permanent global home for our community. Our mission is to bridge the gap between theory and practice—connecting academic researchers, agency practitioners, NGO leaders, and students worldwide to elevate the standard of wildlife governance.

Wildlife conservation needs a sustained, collective voice at the global policy table year-round. Welcome to the future of human dimensions. Welcome to SHDW!

Announcing…

Pathways 2027! We can’t wait to see you in Florida for Pathways 2027.

Follow us for updates on the next steps for the Human Dimensions of Wildlife community!

We welcome the Pathways community to join us for a free online workshop titled "Evidence without borders: Wildlife forensics in India" to take place on 29 June 2026 from 10:00 - 13:00 BST on Zoom.

If you are interested, you can register here: hp1vnjl0LSwXD5@YkNCv/6ai62eeo" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://whova.com/portal/registration/hp1vnjl0LSwXD5@YkNCv/6ai62eeo

If you would like to learn more, visit our website here: https://sites.warnercnr.colostate.edu/pathways-europe/trainings/

Thank you for attending Pathways! We are so grateful to our attendees, presenters, organizers, sponsors, and volunteers for making this conference a success.

The conversations on Wildlife and Human Wellbeing were inspiring, and we can’t wait to see the where the collaborations from this conference take you. See you next time!