Bangor University
Lead supervisor:
Dr Freya St John 
Other supervisor(s):
- Prof Julia Jones
Start date: January 2026 (Full time)
Award: Collaborative
Subject Pathway:
Environmental Planning
Thematic Cluster:
Place, Environment and Development Cluster
In partnership with:
From conflict to coexistence: how can new biodiversity finance approaches promote elephants and humans living in harmony?
My research is going to look at the impact of inovative financing approach initiated by the Peusangan Elephant Conservation Initiative (PECI) (WWF-Indonesia) in reducing human-elephant conflict in Aceh, Indonesia and understand the theory of change behind the program. In order to address that objective, I am going to employ quasiexperimental design to understand the counterfactual of the program and integrate it with human behavioral theory.
Research Impact
My project is expected to reveal the efficiency and impact of PECI initiated by WWF-Indonesia in Aceh, Indonesia in changing local communities' behavior towards elephant. This will inform the stakeholders involved in the PECI about the variables they have to consider in evaluating ther program and provide suggestions for future development and decision-making process.
Bibliography
Utomo, A.W. and Hostetler, M.E. (2026) ‘Linking Environmental Attitudes and Neighborhood Awareness to Sustainable Residential Yard Practices’, Sustainability, 18(19), p. 10107. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su181910107
Biography
I am a conservation researcher with a background in wildlife ecology and the human dimensions of conservation. I completed my M.S. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, where my research examined how environmental attitudes and awareness of environmental actions within neighborhoods are associated with environmental practices in residential yards.
My research interests focus on the social and behavioral dimensions of conservation, particularly human–wildlife coexistence, environmental attitudes and behavior, community engagement, conservation interventions, and biodiversity finance.
I am currently a PhD researcher at Bangor University, where I study human–elephant coexistence in Aceh, Indonesia. My doctoral research explores how conservation interventions and innovative financing approaches can contribute to coexistence between local communities and elephants.
More broadly, I am interested in understanding what works in conservation, why it works, and how conservation interventions can be designed and evaluated to generate meaningful benefits for both people and wildlife.