Hanna Pettersson
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Carnivore conservation, policy and governance
Biography
I am a social scientist by training with an interdisciplinary research focus, collaborating as widely as possible to answer questions about how to foster convivial relationships between people and wildlife in shared landscapes. My MSc research (University of Oxford) focussed on the reintroduction of jaguars and other charismatic fauna in Argentina, while my PhD (University of Leeds) explored the dynamics between expanding wolf populations, managing authorities and rural communities in northern Spain. The emphasis of this project was to explore the conditions of coexistence, the social and ecological factors that enable mutual adaptation and how these can be proactively supported.
Research
In my current research at LCAB, I continue to explore the drivers of vulnerability and adaptation among the communities that are the most impacted by the presence of “problematic” wildlife, such as large carnivores. Based on a case study in the Sámi reindeer herding area in northern Sweden, I analyse the role of Conservation Performance Payment schemes in (re)distributing the benefits and burdens of coexistence, as well as how to build trustworthy wildlife monitoring and management. I also explore future scenarios of coexistence given growing commitments to nature restoration and rewilding, as well as how indigenous and local knowledge may be braided with western science to improve conservation governance.
Publication highlights
Doney, Ethan D., Tom Fry, Valerio Donfrancesco, et al. (2025) ‘Reimagining Habituation: The Case for a Reciprocal and Contextual Understanding’. People and Nature, ahead of print, Wiley
Pettersson, Hanna L., and Erica Von Essen. (2025) ‘Now What? The Conundrum of Successful Recovery of Wolves and Other Species for European Conservation’. Conservation Letters 18, no. 5
Pettersson, Hanna, Lou Lécuyer, Juliette Young, et al. (2025) ‘Who Is Local and What Do They Know? Braiding Knowledges within Carnivore Management in Europe’. People and Nature, ahead of print, Wiley
Pettersson, H. (2025). Tillit, samverkan och rätt(vis) ersättning. En samhällsvetenskaplig utvärdering av pilotprojektet med DNA-inventering på järv i Norrbotten 2023–2024. [Trust, collaboration and just compensation. An evaluation of the pilot project with DNA monitoring of wolverines in Norrbotten 2023-2024]. LCAB 2025-1, Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York, York, UK Trust, collaboration and just compensation (PDF 
, 6,702kb)
Pettersson, Hanna L., George Holmes, Claire H. Quinn, Steven M. Sait, and Juan Carlos Blanco. ‘Who Must Adapt to Whom? Contested Discourses on Human–Wolf Coexistence and Their Impact on Policy in Spain’. People and Nature n/a, no. n/a (2023).