Kelly K Miller

• PhD
• Professor at Deakin University

Simple Summary In this study, we used open-ended interviews to explore how animal moral claims and interests may be best represented in the human world. The findings suggest that the key to animal representation lies in human perceptions of animal voice and that these perceptions are shaped by cultural, social, economic, legal, and political langua...

The feeding of wild birds is a popular but often controversial activity. This study explored differences in demographics, attitudes, and normative beliefs between waterbird feeders and non-feeders at an urban wetland residential estate in Melbourne, Australia. An online survey of nearby residents and visitors (n = 206) identified those who have fed...

Decision-making under uncertainty is important for managing human-natural systems in a changing world. A major source of uncertainty that challenges decisions is rooted in their multi-actor settings, i.e., the poorly understood societal actors with diverse values, complex relationships, and conflicting management approaches. Despite general agreeme...

Adaptation to climatic change in smallholder agriculture is pivotal to ensuring food security in many developing countries. Research into adaptation to climate change in smallholder agriculture has often used capital-based indicator frameworks, with only limited consideration of the cognitive dimensions influencing adaptation motivation. In this st...

Simple Summary Although images are more effective than words at communicating important conservation ideas, different aspects of these images have been demonstrated to have positive and negative effects on viewers’ views towards wildlife and towards the organisation that posted the image. The most prevalent and engaging characteristics of wildlife...

Adaptation to climate change is imperative for the resilience of smallholder agriculture in many developing countries. While studies have focused on climatic impacts on crops and adaptation decisions, barriers to the uptake of adaptation measures by smallholder farmers remain largely unexplored. We empirically quantified the adoption of adaptation...

To advance the employability agenda in higher education, we need new ideas for embedding career skills into university curricula and novel tools for articulating the capabilities of learners. Situated in the discipline of environmental science, the aim of this study was to examine employer perceptions of the skills needed for a career in the sector...

Understanding differences in the way people think about wildlife across countries is important as many conservation challenges transcend jurisdictions. We explored differences in wildlife value orientations in seven countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Serbia. Standard scales assessed domination (prioritizing...

With the rising popularity of social media, conservation organisations and zoos need to understand its impact on public perceptions of the animals they house and their role in conservation. In addition, many zoos offer close-encounter experiences, and visitors frequently share images from these experiences online. This study measured the effects th...

The dataset presents the raw data collected through a household survey on adaptation to climatic variabilities and change by smallholder farmers in Sudurpaschim Pradesh (Far Western Province), Nepal. The dataset comprises farmers' responses on the likely determinants of adaptation decisions, actual uptake of adaptation measures, and the barriers to...

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are some of nature’s most important contributions to people in mountain regions and their provision is increasingly affected by climate change. Here, we identify the types of NTFPs and their contributions to people in the mountain communities of the Upper Madi Watershed of Nepal and describe how these are being im...

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) contribute to the well-being of mountain communities in many ways but their availability is being impacted by climate change. Policy and programs to enhance adaptation can alleviate these impacts, but to be effective they require an understanding of mountain community perceptions of climate change impacts on NTFPs...

Abstract The achievement of global sustainability agendas, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, relies on transformational change across society, economy, and environment that are co‐created in a transdisciplinary exercise by all stakeholders. Within this context, environmental and societal change is increasingly understood and represented vi...

This dataset presents data collected from household surveys from Upper Madi Watershed of Nepal describing the benefits of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to people of mountain ecosystems, their perceptions of climate change, and perceived impacts of climate change on NTFPs ecosystem services. The data were collected from 278 households that were...

Controversy surrounds domestic dog Canis familiaris access to beaches in much of the developed world, where achieving a balance between dog walking and nature conservation, and establishing reasonable compliance with regulations, appear to be highly challenging. We surveyed 434 people who take dogs onto beaches (in coastal central Victoria, Austral...

Smallholder agriculture is a major contributor to global food production and is vital for ensuring food security in many developing countries. Smallholder agriculture is a typically complex and heterogeneous social-ecological system that is especially susceptible to climatic variability. Research has often focused on examining climate impacts on cr...

Wolf management actions are seldom universally accepted and understanding diverse opinions is of value for conservation practitioners. Previous research has either investigated cognitions or emotions to understand public acceptability of wolf management actions. We investigated both concepts simultaneously to identify whether their predictive poten...

In many countries domesticated dogs occur abundantly on coasts, where they may co-occur with and pose a threat to coastal wildlife such as threatened shorebirds. Dogs on beaches fit the ecological definition of invasive species. The management of dogs on coasts is controversial, with polarised debate surrounding dog access to public open spaces, an...

Feeding wild birds is a common and popular human-wildlife interaction throughout the world. However, controversy exists over the benefits and costs to the birds and humans involved. This bibliometric study documents wild bird feeding policies around the globe and examines environmental and socio-cultural factors which may influence the position ado...

Environmental weeds have ecologic and economic costs, harming native vegetation and costing the agricultural industry billions of dollars annually. Many environmental weeds are garden escapees; thus, what the public chooses to plant in their gardens is important. This research investigated the environmental attitudes (related to environmental weeds...

Digital credentials (or badges) allow evidence of achievement to be more detailed than is possible through grades, and can be shared more broadly than is possible through the academic transcript. Here, we illustrate the potential use of digital credentials in higher education through sharing an approach that utilised digital credentials to recognis...

Predation by cats is one of the largest threats to land-based Australian mammals. Although cat control programs are controversial, an understanding of community attitudes can help shape outreach programs designed to raise awareness and increase public support for management goals. This study examined community values towards cats in Australia, know...

Popular and accessible before television and the internet, picture books capture the context of the time they were created and influence the generations of children who consume them. Depictions of the natural world have changed across several generations of picture books as seen in illustrations of all 249 books of an influential collection, the Ch...

The negative impacts of urbanization on biodiversity are well known, and the use of native vegetation in private gardens and streetscapes have been shown to improve the species richness and abundance of native wildlife, thereby improving the biodiversity of the local area. This study poses the question of whether the general public is interested in...

If wildlife gardening programs wish to maximize their contribution to the biodiversity of their area, they need to be recruiting individuals who would not have undertaken wildlife activities of their own accord. This study sought to assess which program features equate to the most success in recruiting previously unengaged members. Providing site a...

As global populations grow, cities are stretching their urban boundaries into rural areas and bringing the challenges of biodiversity conservation into the backyards of homeowners. Planning controls can attempt to regulate residents’ behaviours to support conservation actions for threatened species but need to consider whether community attitudes a...

Private gardens provide habitat and resources for many birds living in human-dominated landscapes. While wild bird feeding is recognised as one of the most popular forms of human-wildlife interaction, almost nothing is known about the use of bird baths. This citizen science initiative explores avian assemblages at bird baths in private gardens in s...

This study examined Greater Melbourne residents’ perspectives toward orangutan conservation through a mixed mode survey method, using postal surveys (N = 108, response rate = 11.8%) and telephone interviews (N = 50, response rate = 51%). Differences were found between knowledge levels about orangutans, attitudes towards orangutans and behavioural i...

In a dry continent like Australia where the provision of water in bird baths is a common and popular practice, very little is known about it. We describe the use of different types of bird baths and how these were maintained by residents (n = 1,728 respondents). The most commonly monitored bird baths were pedestal/elevated baths (>80%). Participant...

This study explored whether the plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus), a species lacking the criteria outlined in the traditional flagship model, is a suitable local flagship for the Northern Plains Grasslands of Victoria in Australia. Questionnaires and telephone interviews were used to survey residents and natural resource management professiona...

The concept of sustainability can be controversial and difficult to define. As a result, it has been suggested that there should be specific pedagogies and teaching methods for education for sustainability (EfS). How well these methods are used within universities can inform the future of EfS pedagogy. One quarter of the teaching academics in every...

Little is known about how non-consumptive recreationists perceive their impacts on animals and how this relates to recreationist behavior. We surveyed attitudes and behaviors relating to bird disturbance of 179 birdwatchers who visited a world-renowned, restricted-access birdwatching destination (the Western Treatment Plant [WTP], Victoria, Austral...

Bird feeding in residential gardens is an increasingly popular human–wildlife interaction. In Australia, the practice is discouraged by most government and nongovernment wildlife conservation agencies, although advice varies and the most common recommendation is to provide water and habitat for birds rather than supplementary food. This study compa...

This study aimed to highlight the praxis of various mainstream and alternative faith traditions in Australia with relation to environmental sustainability issues. A mixed methods approach (surveys, interviews, site visits) was used to investigate the levels of awareness and involvement of faith communities on issues including biodiversity protectio...

The presence of domestic dogs Canis familiaris in public open spaces is increasingly controversial. In our review of the literature, we located 133 publications of various types (papers, reports etc.) that examine some aspect of dogs in parks and open spaces (50 % focussed solely on dogs). There has been an exponential growth in the cumulative numb...

This chapter discusses the human dimensions of dog-wildlife interactions. These human dimensions often constitute human-wildlife conflicts. The chapter presents an overview of the research in the field of the human dimensions of dog-wildlife interactions and the possible solutions for the issues raised by the research.

An often overlooked impact of urbanisation is a reduction in our ability to connect with nature in our daily lives. If people lose the ability to connect with nature we run the risk of creating a nature-disconnect, which is hypothesised to have an impact on our empathy for other species and our desire to help conservation efforts. Understanding how...

This study aimed to highlight the environmental sustainability praxis of mainstream and alternative faith traditions in Australia. An investigation of spiritual communities engaging in environmentally sustainable practices was undertaken at 35 sites throughout Australia. The site visits formed part of a larger, mixed-methods study, where 449 indivi...

Large growth is expected in the environment industry in coming decades; especially in Australia where the government’s new price on carbon began in July 2012. This growth inevitably raises the question of who will fill new environmental management roles. This article presents the perceptions and expectations of students who are beginning to think a...

In early 2010, after 27 years of recovery effort, the orange-bellied parrot (OBP; Neophema chrysogaster) was expected to be extinct in the wild within a few years. Shortly before the imminent wild extinction became evident, we surveyed landholders (114 responses of 783 surveys delivered) in part of the main non-breeding area, according to three cla...

Recreational use of beaches may threaten some beach-nesting shorebirds in southern Australia. Temporary Beach Closures, comprized of a 50 x 25 m exclusion zone around a shorebird nest, represent a promising technique for altering human behaviour by reducing both disturbance to birds and inadvertent crushing of eggs by beach visitors. We assessed wh...

This paper reports research into the levels of awareness and engagement of Abrahamic communities regarding environmental sustainability in the State of Victoria, Australia. Seventeen faith groups were targeted for study at 22 locations throughout Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne; with 15 in-depth interviews completed. The study suggests that per...

Buffers are often used to separate threatening stimuli, such as humans, from wildlife but with few exceptions buffer widths are based on little empirical information. We measured the distance at which a response (i.e., flight initiation distance [FID]) occurred among 28 of Australia's 36 regularly occurring shorebird species when presented with an...

Beaches are the most popular recreational destinations in Australia yet how they are visited and valued by Australians is poorly known. We surveyed 385 people (13.8% of 2800 coastal residents) from south-eastern Australia to examine their use of beaches and the features that are important in their choice and enjoyment of a beach destination. Most r...

This study investigates the benefits of using oral history as a tool for the sustainable management of estuaries. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted to generate oral history records for the Balcombe Estuary Reserve, a small estuary in a periurban zone on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. These interviews establish a more complet...

Community attitudes toward urban possums in Victoria were examined. 500 questionnaires were sent to a random sample of residents from metropolitan Melbourne (n=103) as well as people who had had experiences with possums (n=340). Negative attitudes toward possums were found to exist in the community and these attitudes were not restricted to those w...

Citizen science involves collaboration between multi-sector agencies and the public to address a natural resource management issue. The Sea Search citizen science programme involves community groups in monitoring and collecting subtidal rocky reef and intertidal rocky shore data in Victorian Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Australia. In this study w...

Australian delegates at the Australasian Ornithological Conference (2007) were surveyed by questionnaire to determine their perceived research and conservation priorities for Australian birds (n ¼134). Respondents were honours or postgraduate students (37.4%), academics (26.2%), wildlife managers (6.5%), land managers (6.5%), environmental consulta...

It is now widely accepted that it is important to understand the ‘human dimensions’ of wildlife management issues in order to achieve management goals. This growing field of study was born in the 1960s and involves an examination of societal values, knowledge and behaviours associated with wildlife and wildlife management issues. This paper provide...

Studying the human dimensions of wildlife management issues is now considered to be an essential component of wildlife research. This study examined the Living with Possums policy in Victoria, Australia, in terms of the policy?s success in educating the community and ensuring community compliance. Postal surveys and telephone interviews were conduc...

In recent years there has been a significant shift in the way courses and subjects are delivered to students in tertiary institutions. Advances in technology have resulted in a change to the traditional face-to-face lecture and tutorial teaching format, with many subjects in tertiary education now available online. Although research has explored th...

In Australia, the management of feral horse populations is a contentious issue, owing to their pluralistic status as an introduced pest and a national icon. In this review, we synthesise current knowledge of the ecological effects of feral horses and the human dimensions of feral horse management, using case studies from around the world to illustr...

It is now well established that men and women often differ significantly in their attitudes and responses to workplace situations, challenges and policies. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of gender on perceptions and priorities held by Australasian wildlife managers. Data were collected via a questionnaire distributed during Decembe...

The aim of this study was to examine the values and attitudes held by Australasian wildlife managers as they relate to wildlife management issues, and to gain some insight into possible future directions and priorities for Australasian wildlife management. During December 2002 – February 2003, 138 questionnaires were completed by members of the Aus...

This study investigated community-based monitoring in Victoria’s Marine National Parks (MNPs) and Sanctuaries (MSs) from January to May 2004. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the potential for community-based monitoring projects to assist in the collection of data for the management of Victoria’s MNPs and MSs. The pilot habitats that w...

This paper explores the management implications of a recent study that was designed to explore public and stakeholder values of wildlife in Victoria, Australia. Questionnaires (n = 1431) were used to examine values and knowledge of wildlife held by residents from seven Victorian municipalities and members of six wildlife management stakeholder grou...

This paper presents a comparison of values of wildlife held by stakeholder groups and public samples in Victoria, Australia, with a sample of wildlife managers' beliefs about these groups. It also examines the managers' views of the importance of utilizing human dimensions information in their decision-making. In-depth interviews were conducted wit...

This paper presents the findings from one aspect of a study which was prompted by a limited understanding of people's values and knowledge ofwildlife in Victoria, Australia. This paper specifically focuses on the values and knowledge of wildlife held by males and females, and compares these with how Victorian wildlife managers perceive these groups...