Daniel Ramp
Associate professor and Director, Centre for Compassionate Conservation
Dan is a behavioural ecologist, welfare specialist, and conservation biologist specialising in transdisciplinary approaches to coexistence and sustainability. Since joining the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in 2011, Dan founded and directs the Centre for Compassionate Conservation (CfCC) in 2014. He leads the development of research, teaching, and public outreach in the centre, where the goal is to stimulate innovation, novel research, and conservation practices that promote multispecies flourishing. Dan conducts scientific research on human-wildlife interactions, wildlife trade, sustainable agriculture, conservation practice, and wild animal welfare while also collaborating widely with other disciplines. He has led multiple ARC and CRC projects, working with government and industry to engage in evidenced-based policy transformation that promote multispecies coexistence and sustainability, particularly in production landscapes.
Find out more about Daniel Ramp
Rosalie Chapple
Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director
Rosalie is a cross-disciplinary conservation ecologist with a focus on protected areas and wildlife, and habitually engages with socio-politically contentious issues such as bushfires, feral animals, dingoes, wild horses, and Indian street dogs. A key inspiration is working with Indigenous peoples to reimagine how we practice conservation. Rosalie has been based in the TD School at UTS since 2023, where she is Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Compassionate Conservation. Her current research is on the behaviour and welfare of Indian street dogs. She works across academic, government and non-government sectors, including as a consultant, and teaches part-time in the Master of Environmental Management program at the University of NSW Sydney (UNSW). In 2004, she co-founded the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute where she held various positions, including as Executive Directive and Research Director, and remains on the Board of Directors.
Find out more about Rosalie Chapple
Arnick Abdollahi
Research Scientist
Arnick is a research scientist specialising in Earth and space science Informatics, artificial intelligence (AI), and agricultural and environmental sciences. Arnick is currently contributing to the Foragecaster project funded by the Food Agility CRC and several industry partners including AgriWebb, Cibolabs, and FLINTPro. Arnick is researching data-driven methods to assist farmers establish environmental resilience practices that promote biodiversity alongside food security. Arnick has published extensively and received several grants, awards, internships, and scholarships, including being short-listed for the Australian Space Awards' Scientist of the Year 2024. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses and supervises the research of honours and graduate students in various Earth observation and AI topics.
Esty Yanco
Project Manager
Esty’s transdisciplinary research integrates ethics, ecology, and the human dimensions of conservation to explore opportunities for improving cohabitation between wildlife and people on shared landscapes. Her research interests include examining the ethical and practical foundations of human-wildlife coexistence, investigating the One Health benefits of sharing space with wildlife on food and fibre production landscapes, and developing practical approaches to improving attitudes towards wildlife and increasing moral inclusion of non-human animals. Her work advocates for tangible change by engaging in projects that foster compassion for wildlife and the environment and that build pathways to healthy coexistence through education, outreach, and collaboration. Esty has a dual BA in Biology and Geography (Dartmouth College), an MS in Conservation Medicine (Tufts University), and was awarded a PhD in Socio-ecology from the Centre for Compassionate Conservation at UTS in 2022. She continues to work with the team as a research associate and skilled research project manager.
Achyut Aryal
Adjunct FELLOW
Achyut is a conservation biologist with multi-sector experience in wildlife conservation, human-wildlife coexistence, forestry, and strategic management. He completed his MSc forestry education in Germany, followed by a Ph.D. and post-doctoral research at Massey University, New Zealand. Dr. Aryal also served as an Honorary Fellow at the University of Sydney for 6 years and is currently an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in the Centre for Compassionate Conservation and an Adjunct Professor at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He also serves on the Auckland Conservation Board-Ministerial appointment.
Recent Centre alumni
- DR ANDREA HARVEY, Chancellor's Research Fellow
Project: Advancing One Welfare to reframe coexistence and nature conservation - DR Marine Desprez, Research Fellow
Project: Crop yield prediction using microclimate data and machine learning - DR Finbarr Horgan, Research Fellow
Project: Coexistence farming and compassionate conservation - DR Boyu Ji, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Project: Crop yield prediction using microclimate data and machine learning - DR Rachael Nolan, Research Fellow
Project: Managing risk in carbon markets - DR Arian Wallach, Chancellor's Research Fellow
Project: Do apex predators enable native–non-native coexistence? - DR Eamonn Wooster, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Project: Decolonising One Health approaches to street dogs in India - DR Kyle Zawada, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Project: Foragecaster; Crop yield prediction using microclimate data and machine learning - DR Miriam Zemanova, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Project: Landscape fragmentation impacts on kangaroo populations
Research assistants
The research we conduct around the world would not be possible without the many assistants and volunteers we employ from time to time.