Sarah Carter

Research interests

I am interested in how we can be more strategic and effective in our conservation efforts by learning from past initiatives, predicting impacts of future climate and land use change on wildlife and natural communities, using remote-sensing derived landcover data to evaluate conservation actions, and translating this knowledge into practical tools for land managers, policy makers, and conservation practitioners. My current research examines the extent to which conservation plans influence conservation actions, and the biological, economic, and policy factors that tend to correlate with successful implementation of conservation plans. I believe strongly in working closely with the agencies and organizations who are protecting and managing our landscapes to help bridge the planning-implementation gap through better understanding of the constraints under which conservation actors work and the factors that may facilitate conservation plan implementation.