Originally from Newcastle, I moved up to Scotland to study marine science in 2010. I completed my BSc and MSc at Aberdeen University, specialising in marine mammal behaviour and habitat use, spatial analysis and ecological modelling. I took various breaks in my studies to work as a conservation practitioner in South Africa, working as a guide and on various projects. It was here I was first introduced to conservation conflicts, after assisting the delivery of an Anatolian guard dog scheme to reduce incidences of retaliatory killing of cheetahs by local farmers. On return to the UK my dissertation work was then used as part of a conflict mitigation process to alleviate seal and salmon conflicts in Aberdeenshire. I began my PhD in 2015, looking at conservation conflicts and their management, and graduated in 2018. Following various jobs as a research assistant and consultant, I began work at Stirling as a postdoctoral researcher on the ConFooBio project with Nils Bunnefeld.
In 2022, I was awarded the NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship as Principle Investigator of the KE4SEA Project. This project works specifically with fisheries, local communities and government agencies in Scotland to enhance knowledge exchange and build more effective, sustainable and locally-appropriate strategies for marine protection.
As a marine social scientist, I am particularly interested in how issues related to social equity and governance affect the conservation and sustainable management of our oceans.
I am primarily interested in the human dimensions of conservation conflicts, and study their social and political aspects: relationships, power dynamics, and governance. However I am also interested in more global trends, looking at the common factors that cause conflicts to escalate, and how we may be able to model and predict occurrences. And lastly, how we may better integrate science with practical management in the field.
Article
Valero DE, McKeon CR, Bussière L, Corniani N, Colmenarez YC, Hodgson I, Mangan R, Polanczyk R, Tinsley M & Bunnefeld N (2025) A Practical Approach to Developing and Using Online Games for Transdisciplinary Research into Complex Social-Ecological Systems. Society & Natural Resources, 38 (5), pp. 516-539. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2025.2456938
Article
Understanding and overcoming obstacles in adaptive management
Månsson J, Eriksson L, Hodgson I, Elmberg J, Bunnefeld N, Hessel R, Johansson M, Liljebäck N, Nilsson L, Olsson C, Pärt T, Sandström C, Tombre I & Redpath SM (2023) Understanding and overcoming obstacles in adaptive management. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 38 (1), pp. 55-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2022.08.009
Article
Fight or Flight? Understanding Different Stakeholder Responses to Conservation Conflicts
Hodgson ID, Fischer A, Redpath SM & Young JC (2022) Fight or Flight? Understanding Different Stakeholder Responses to Conservation Conflicts. Society and Natural Resources, 35 (6), pp. 628-645. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2022.2048933
Article
Jones IL, Timoshenko A, Zuban I, Zhadan K, Cusack JJ, Duthie AB, Hodgson ID, Minderman J, Pozo RA, Whytock RC & Bunnefeld N (2022) Achieving international biodiversity targets: learning from local norms, values and actions regarding migratory waterfowl management in Kazakhstan. Journal of Applied Ecology, 59 (7), pp. 1911-1924. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14198
Book Chapter
Lecuyer L, Alard D, Calla S, Coolsaet B, Fickel T, Heinsoo K, Henle K, Herzon I, Hodgson I, Quetier F, McCracken D, McMahon BJ, Melts I, Sands D & Skrimizea E (2021) Conflicts between agriculture and biodiversity conservation in Europe: Looking to the future by learning from the past. In: Bohan DA, Dumbrell AJ & Vanbergen AJ (eds.) Future of Agricultural Landscapes, Pt III. Advances in Ecological Research, 65. Amsterdam: Elsevier Academic Press Inc, pp. 3-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aecr.2021.10.005
Book Chapter
Building Peace to Save Nature: Multi-disciplinary Approaches to Managing Conflicts in Conservation
Hodgson ID, Cusack J, Jones I, Minderman J, Nilsson L, Pozo RA, Rakotonarivo OS & Bunnefeld N (2021) Building Peace to Save Nature: Multi-disciplinary Approaches to Managing Conflicts in Conservation. In: Underkoffler SC & Adams HR (eds.) Wildlife Biodiversity Conservation: Multidisciplinary and Forensic Approaches. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64682-0_1
Article
Rakotonarivo OS, Jones II, Bell AR, Duthie AB, Cusack JJ, Minderman J, Hogan J, Hodgson I & Bunnefeld N (2021) Experimental evidence for conservation conflict interventions: the importance of financial payments, community trust and equity attitudes. People and Nature, 3 (1), pp. 162-175. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10155
Book Chapter
Skrimizea E, Lecuyer L, Bunnefeld N, Butler JRA, Fickel T, Hodgson I, Holtkamp C, Marzano M, Parra C, Pereira L, Petit S, Pound D, Rodríguez I, Ryan P & Staffler J (2020) Sustainable agriculture: Recognizing the potential of conflict as a positive driver for transformative change. In: Bohan DA & Vanbergen AJ (eds.) The Future of Agricultural Landscapes, Part I. Advances in Ecological Research, 63. London: Academic Press, pp. 255-311. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aecr.2020.08.003
Research Report
The State of Knowledge and Practice on Human-Wildlife Conflicts
Hodgson ID, Redpath SM, Sandstrom C & Biggs D (2020) The State of Knowledge and Practice on Human-Wildlife Conflicts. O'Neill M (Editor) & Villat J (Editor) The Luc Hoffman Institute. Gland, Switzerland. https://luchoffmanninstitute.org/the-surprising-new-way-to-approach-human-wildlife-conflict-a-new-report/
Article
Who knows best? Understanding the use of research-based knowledge in conservation conflicts
Hodgson ID, Redpath SM, Fischer A & Young J (2019) Who knows best? Understanding the use of research-based knowledge in conservation conflicts. Journal of Environmental Management, 231, pp. 1065-1075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.09.023
Article
Hodgson ID, Redpath SM, Fischer A & Young J (2018) Fighting talk: Organisational discourses of the conflict over raptors and grouse moor management in Scotland. Land Use Policy, 77, pp. 332-343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.05.042
