Drivers of shark phobia and the consequences on conservation with environmental psychology scientist Dr Brianna Le Busque

For our August episode we were joined by environmental psychology scientist Dr Brianna Le Busque. Bri is the program director of environmental sciences at The University of South Australia, along with being science and technology Australia Superstar of STEM. Her research focuses on biophilia (connections to nature) and biophobia (fear/dislike of nature), especially in the marine context. Her main area of research is understanding fear of sharks- including children’s fear, the media representations of sharks and tourism experiences of sharks. Bri is also involved in work exploring health benefits of nature connection for students, whale tourism experiences, impacts of the algal bloom in South Australia. We heard all about Bri's research in biophilia/biophobia, where human's fear of sharks tend to stem from, and how this in turn affects marine conservation. We learnt about Bri's pathway into getting into environmental psychology, and heard about Bri's passion for advocating that you don't need to wear a white lab coat to work in STEM. Bri also spoke about the algal bloom crisis in her home state of South Australia, and the effects it is having on both the ocean, but also the community. Maddy and Eliza were absolutely enthralled in this chat- we hope you love it as much as we did! You can follow Bri on instagram @drbriannalebusque_ Any questions or queries contact [email protected] to our resources:Website: https://women-in-wildlife.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/women.in.wildlife/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077369770841Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/company/womeninwildlifeMusic by Thomas Hagen from SLAUX