Dr. Ashley Dayer is an Assistant Professor of Human Dimensions in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech and Affiliated Faculty with the Global Change Center. Her conservation social science research focuses on conservation behavior of wildlife recreationists, habitat conservation by private landowners, human disturbance of shorebirds and science application by managers. She earned her PhD in Natural Resources from Cornell; her Master of Science in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources from Colorado State University, and her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science & Public Policy from Harvard University. In between degrees, she was the Education Director for a bird observatory, where she led birdwatching trips, contributed to the design of birding trails, and taught thousands of children about science through bird banding. Ashley continues to be actively involved nationally and internationally in bird conservation, aiming to build the capacity of organizations to apply conservation social science to improve bird conservation outcomes.