Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse

Alan J. Hesse

Senior Behaviour Change Specialist at TRAFFIC; also independent author-illustrator and climate education entrepreneur, TRAFFIC International

About Alan J. Hesse

My conservation career started in 1992 when I helped set up and joined a University expedition to the Bolivian Amazon. What started out as a 3-month experience ended up being a life-changing inflection point that set my professional and personal course to the present day. My conservation experience was built bottom-up and hands-on, and includes field data collection and logistics, grassroots organization leadership and project management, community engagement and capacity building, M&E, training and behavior change, and lately climate education through authorship of graphic novels and other resources. My conservation career includes positions as a senior staff member and a principal investigator at the Bolivian BirdLife Partner Armonía, field investigator in the Gran Chaco with WCS Bolivia, field logistics officer for Conservation International's RAP expeditions, and Programme Manager and Senior Manager of M&E at Rare. I currently work as Senior Behaviour Change Specialist with TRAFFIC International, applying behavioural science approaches to support TRAFFIC's work across wildlife supply chains globally. 

Which category below best describes the type of organisation you currently work for/or run?

Charity/Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)

Areas of expertise

Behaviour change campaigns Communication and marketing Education & training Land/Water Management Monitoring and evaluation Other Project/programme management Research Species Management

Would you be willing to be approached and share your lessons learned in your area(s) of expertise with our community?

Yes

Would you like to be added to the calendar invitation for our monthly WildHub Socials?

Yes

Are you currently signed up for one of our WildTeam training courses? Please select "No" if you are not signed up, or choose the course you are registered for below.

1. No, I am not currently signed up for a WildTeam training course

Intro Content

6 Individual actions for climate and sustainability
►
Resources
Podcasts & webinars (recordings), Sustainability

6 Individual actions for climate and sustainability

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Popular Content

Topics

Channels contributed to:

Professional development Events & Network opportunities Well-being and resilience Our community

Rooms participated in:

Training opportunities Let's welcome new members! Building our community Art and conservation

Recent Discussions

Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Feb 24, 2022
Conservation Catalysts private room

Greetings from Alan, new Conservation Catalysts Coach

Hi Conservation Catalysts, I'm super happy to be in your space! Today I got drafted as a Coach, and I'm looking forward to assisting @Josh Boyle @Temiloluwa Fajembola, and @Nolan White in their role as a Conservation Catalyst.  I have 30 years of experience in conservation, all of it in Latin America, although lately my new area of focus is more in the climate change space, where I am interested in climate education, communication, and nature-based solutions. 
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5 responses
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Feb 09, 2022
Building our community

Some ideas for WildHub

As I was chatting with @Thirza Loffeld @Lucy Tallents and other WildHub members on today's social I got a couple of ideas that I'd like to put forward to the community to see it anyone thinks they might be worth keeping.  1. A communication space like a 'job board' for members who either are looking for volunteers and interns, or for members who want to gain experience in a particular area of conservation and are willing to be interns or volunteers for any space of time.  I think many WildHub members may see some value in this. Fore example, I am looking for an intern in communications, marketing and social media for the entrepreneurial side of my conservation and climate education work.  2. Thirza mentioned plans to build even more inclusion into WildHub by setting up country ambassadors and spaces for members to meet in different languages, growing the global accessibility of the community. I think this is a great idea, and it made me think that another angle on this might be to have specific subject groups that any member may join. Something akin to the Species Specialist Groups set up by IUCN. For example, I would love to see and belong to a Climate Change group within WildHub, to meet other WH members who have interest in, or even work in CC-related aspects of conservation (e.g. Ecosystem-based Solutions). Just some ideas! 
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Go to the profile of Lize Gibson-Hall
2 responses

Recent Comments

Comment on Learn the art of social marketing for conservation behaviour change
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Nov 25, 2023
Replying to Thirza Loffeld

Thanks for sharing Alan, hope you are well and great to see you back & active in our community! 

Would you perhaps be able to share about an interesting case study in your next lessons learned post that puts your above insights into context? I would love to learn more from you and I think others members would like to too :) 

Thanks Thirza! It is good to be back. I will gladly do as you ask. Let me give it some thought. 

Comment on Behavior change for wildlife conservation - new published article
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Nov 22, 2023

Hi @Isabel Tostes Ribeiro thanks for sharing this paper, it's great to see more behaviour change material on WildHub! I noted with interest your conclusions that there was no real difference between merely providing information vs information + behavioural nudge. I have long worked with the application of social marketing as a tool for conservation behaviour change and seen that effecting lasting change is a lot harder than we all think! I'd love to have a chat about all this if ever you are interested. Meanwhile perhaps you can check out the area of my website dedicated to training on social marketing: https://alanhesse.com/conservation-training/ 

Comment on Conservation Connector: Flávia Martinelli
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Jan 11, 2023

A bit late perhaps but congratulations @Flavia Martinelli on being a WH Connector! 

Comment on Everyday Stories of Climate Change - Educator Guide and Graphic Novel
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Jan 11, 2023

Thanks for sharing this resource @Flavia Martinelli. I had come across it before and I believe it is a rare example of fact-based storytelling that truly reflects Global South perspectives. I too create graphic novels about climate change and in fact I'm working on my 5th one right now, which is 100% focused on Brazil. If interested I'd love to run it past you at some point!  

Comment on WildHub Christmas Celebration (Wed 14th Dec 2022 @ 5pm GMT)
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Dec 14, 2022
Replying to Lize Gibson-Hall

Note: Due to the UK leaving British Summer Time please double check your time zone is accurate. I have checked on the internet but just to be sure!

5pm GMT Margate/London/Wiltshire, UK @Jack Cole @Douglas Houston                 @Emily Rampling @Camille Burton Belfast, UK  ,  

6pm Abuja, Nigeria  and  Yaoundé, Cameroon   and   Madrid, Spain    Germany  Sweden  @Malin Johansson France @Natalia Rożniewska 

7pm Lusaka, Zambia  ,  Gaborone, Botswana  Harare, Zimbabwe  South Africa   Lusaka, Zambia  ,  

8pm Mji Mkongwe, Zanzibar  Dar es Salaam  and  Nairobi, Kenya   and  and  

10PM Pakistan @Ufaq Manzar 

10:30PM New Delhi, India  ,  , and  

9AM Santa Cruz, USA  

11AM Costa Rica,  

12PM Quito, Ecuador   Belmopan, Belize  Washington D. C., USA  

2PM Brasilia, Brazil  OH, USA  Nova Scotia, Canada  

Thank you Lize for going the extra mile calculating the time zones! Very good practice. See you all there. 

Comment on Nature and Climate: Communication that Inspires Action
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Nov 14, 2022

Hi @Mitchell Rae pleased to meet you and congratulations for this event! Unfortunately for some reason it slipped under my radar but I'd love to know how it went. I too dedicate my efforts to communicating about climate and nature in ways that are engaging, effective and positive. Hopefully we can meet at one of the WH Socials some time to chat further. 

Comment on Sharing the Love with Art Conservation
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Oct 26, 2022

Thanks for posting Lize and to both you and Lara for setting this up! Looking forward to the next Art Social! 

Comment on Webinar: Reconnecting people with nature through compelling animated stories
Go to the profile of Alan J. Hesse
Alan J. Hesse
Oct 19, 2022

Thanks for this fantastic learning opportunity, @Giuseppe Forestieri - I'll be there! 

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