What’s it like being a conservation social science champion? 

Are you at the forefront of integrating social science into your organisation, or do you want to be?

Maybe you’re in a leadership position and see the necessity in accessing the human dimension of conservation to move your organisation’s mission forwards. Maybe you’re a natural scientist who knows that the evidence base of your work is impoverished if social science isn’t part of the picture. Maybe you’re a budget-holder who knows your next project needs to include social science researchers to get to the heart of the big conservation challenges your organisation works with. 

Your job title isn’t the important factor. What matters is the role you play. If you recognise any of these scenarios:

• You’re the one asking where people fit into the conservation challenges you’re working with
• You’re the one people signpost to when it comes to communities or behaviour-based dimensions of research
• You’re the one colleagues go to to ‘check over the questionnaire’
• You’re the one suggesting qualitative approaches to get to the ‘why’ of what’s happening as well as the ‘what’
• You’re sometimes seen as being on a soapbox for wanting to integrate social science into projects…

…then this blog is for you. I share some of the challenges and opportunities being a social science champion offers. I’d love to know if this mirrors your experience. It certainly reflects the path I walked as the first social scientist in a science department of a large UK conservation NGO. 

Let’s look at the challenges first. 

Challenge One: It’s lonely

The good news is that there has been progress in recent years. There is more awareness that social science is an important part of the evidence puzzle when it comes to conservation. There’s more funding for interdisciplinary projects. 

However, across the sector, as a social science champion, you’re likely to be in a tiny minority. There still isn’t sector-wide understanding of the role social science has to play in tackling climate and conservation challenges. The conclusions of Bennet et al in their 2016 paper Mainstreaming The Social Sciences in Conservation remain true ten years later: ‘Despite broad recognition of the value of social sciences and increasingly vocal calls for better engagement with the human element of conservation, the conservation social sciences remain misunderstood and underutilized in practice.’

You might be the only person in your organisation with any understanding of the importance of social science for reaching conservation goals. Or there may be others who are supportive, but aren’t conversant enough to have the important, ideas-bouncing, problem-solving conversations with. In terms of your own expertise, maybe it’s on you to find ways to develop – there are not ready-made pathways for you. And in terms of your organisation’s expertise it’s on you to speak up, or it won’t happen. That’s a draining place to be. If the only outcome from this blog is that one person feels a little less lonely, it will have been worth it. 

Challenge Two: It’s repetitive

If you are the person who speaks up for the human dimensions of conservation, you’ll find yourself faced with the same reactions and questions on repeat:

• ‘Is social science even a science?’
• ‘How can a sample size that small be robust?’
• ‘Can you check over this questionnaire before I send it out tomorrow?’
• ‘How can words and text be data?’’ 

You will be faced with questions from sceptics querying the validity or relevance of social science in the first place. And you’ll also have the questions from the well-meaning but under-informed, who know that addressing the people aspect of conservation is a good thing, but don’t know how to do it. 

And you won’t want to alienate any of these people, because to get social science integrated into your work, which you know is important, you need to connect with them. So you find yourself on a loop, addressing the same points over and over again, because there’s nowhere else in your organisation for anyone to go. The fact they are asking the questions is a win. But more needs to happen. 

Challenge Three: It’s hard, invisible work

What you really want is to get humans into the picture when it comes to conservation thinking, research and evidence. You’d love more natural scientists to be conversant in social science and its methods, so the best approaches can be deployed for the research questions you’re tackling. You know that conservation is a human issue, with humans as part of the problem, and humans as the potential solution. But you don’t yet actually spend much time doing that work. 

Because you have to give your energy to all the invisible prework that gets social science round the table. Answering the foundational questions, like the examples just shared in point two, above. Making the case for social science being part of the research picture, when ecology is a given. Questioning norms and how things have always been done. Asking for a budget for social science, somewhere within the organisation, even if it’s not you holding the purse-strings.

These tasks may or may not be in your job description, yet as someone who recognises the importance of social science for conservation evidence, it’s a critical part of your role. Change happens, but slowly.  It can be exhausting. 

It’s not all depressing news though. Being a social science champion most certainly has its benefits. 

Opportunity One: It’s visionary

Conservation social science isn’t a brand new field. But we are still in the early days of what is becoming a much-expanded sector. Because conservation social science is vital to effective and fair environmental action. 

So as a social science champion, you have the opportunity to really make an impact in your organisation. When your colleagues grasp the potential social science offers, it opens up so many more possibilities for questions that can be asked and answered, and the methodologies employed to get there. And you can be a critical part of setting that agenda. The development potential is huge. If you’re the sort of person who gets excited by trying new things, and bringing others along with you, it’s a perfect fit. 

Opportunity Two: It opens doors in your career

Because social science is so under-represented in conservation organisations, the person who flies the flag for social science research can often find themselves around tables they weren’t expecting! 

Let’s say your organisation has accepted the need for more social science within their research strategy, due to your hard work. They turn to the person who knows the most about this subject, whatever their paygrade. Or let’s say your manager is on board, and it’s more efficient for you to speak at the stakeholder meeting than brief them. In my case, I found myself in a London boardroom with people three levels of seniority above me. As well as being a nice ego-boost, it meant I could see the impact my advocacy was having, at the highest levels of the organisation. 

You’ll also find yourself building bridges and making connections across your organisation, as well as upwards. It can be so satisfying to see the dots join as different strands of the organisation get on board. Which, again, can lead to unexpected and fulfilling projects and opportunities. 

Opportunity Three: It’s game changing for conservation

The final opportunity is really what it’s all about. As a social science champion, you know that there’s only so far conservation evidence can go without engaging with the people aspect. Because the challenges our planet faces are human at their foundation – human problems, with human solutions. 

We can’t separate out ecological evidence from people and expect it to have a real-life positive impact on our environment. We, humans, live here, and we have the power to influence positively or negatively. We do this work because we know we must. However frustrating and overwhelming it can feel at times. 

More than a (lonely and tired!) champion: you’re a social science catalyst

What if, instead of being the go-to for social science, the one some roll their eyes at, the one others consider the expert to call on for ‘the people stuff’, you were the start of a cultural change in your organisation?

That’s what The Catalyst Programme is all about. It’s a four month support and capacity-building programme for the social science champions within the conservation sector, designed to fit around, not add to, heavy workloads.  It includes two days of online training, and three monthly group sessions – with the opportunity for 1:1 mentoring and team training too. 

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a head of department, a budget-holder, a scientist, a team leader. The Catalyst Programme is about supporting the thought leaders, the ones with passion to find ways to create real change within their organisation. It’s a small group programme which means you get my support with the specific challenges you face, and the vision you have for your organisation. 

Next time on the blog I’ll be sharing some practical advice for social science champions like you to help move the social science agenda forward. So look out for that. And if you’d like to share your experience about being a social science champion, or get on the waiting list to hear about the 2026 Catalyst Programme, just message me. I’d love to hear from you.  You’re not alone and your vision is urgently needed.

Updated June 2026.