Sam Maher

I am a conservation scientist focused on understanding how human decisions, values, and institutions influence conservation outcomes.

Admittance Semester/Year and Program

PhD, Fall 2020

Education

Yale School of the Environment, MESc, 2018

The University of Texas at Austin, BA, 2015

Research Lab

Middleton Lab, Land Use Change Lab

Selected Publications

• Maher, S., Kjorstad, T., Kroetz, K., Butsic, V., Middleton, A. (2025). The emerging need to manage scavenged wildlife resources. Biological Conservation, 311, 111457.

• Monk, J., Barker, K., Maher, S. (…)., Gherardi, L. (2025). Wild vs. domestic ungulate ecosystem impacts: understanding functional differences requires greater focus on mechanisms. Functional Ecology & Journal of Animal Ecology; Joint Issue - Mechanisms Underpinning Zoogeochemistry. (Accepted).

• Maher, S., Barker, K., Kroetz, K., Butsic, V., Leonard, B., Middleton, A. (2023). Assessing the ecosystem services and disservices provided by mobile wildlife. Biological Conservation, 283, 110090.

• Serota, M., Barker, K., Gigliotti, L., Maher, S., (…), Middleton, A. (2023). Incorporating human dimensions improves wildlife translocation outcomes. Nature Communications, 14, 2119.

• Maher, S., Fenichel, E. P., Schmitz, O. J., Adamowicz, W. L. (2020). The economics of conservation debt: a natural capital approach to revealed valuation of ecological dynamics. Ecological Applications, 30:e02132. 

• Naro, E. M., Maher, S., Muntifering, J. R., Eichenwald, A. J., Clark, S. G. (2020). Syndicate recruitment, perceptions and problem solving in Namibian rhinoceros protection. Biological Conservation, 243:108481.

Selected Presentations

• Maher, S.M. 2025. The emerging importance of scavenged wildlife resources. Invited Speaker, Spring Seminar Series. Department of Economics, the University of Wyoming. Laramie, WY.

• Maher, S.M. 2024. Spotlight Talk: Shedding Light on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem’s Growing Antler Economy. Northern North America National Geographic Leadership Workshop. Raleigh, NC.

• Maher, S.M. 2022. Assessing the ecosystem services and disservices provided by mobile wildlife. The 15th Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Bozeman, MT.

• Maher, S.M. 2021. The Economics of “Conservation Debt”: A Natural Capital Approach to Revealed Valuation of Ecological Dynamics. XXI Annual BIOECON conference. Jackson, WY.

• Maher, S.M. 2019. The Economics of “Conservation Debt”: A Natural Capital Approach to Revealed Valuation of Ecological Dynamics . Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Annual Summer Conference (Lake Tahoe, Nevada).

• Maher, SM. 2019. Ecosystem Services in Southeast Asia. IDEEAL Project Closeout (Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia & Bangkok, Thailand).

• Maher, SM. 2019. Introduction to Environmental Economics for Land Use Planning. IDEEAL Project Closeout (Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia & Bangkok, Thailand).

• Naro, E.M., Maher, S.M. 2018. Socio-economic Factors Driving Commercial Rhinoceros Poaching in Namibia.  Pathways: Human Dimensions of Wildlife Conference. (Windhoek, Namibia)

Selected Honors and Awards

• USDA NIFA Predoctoral Fellowship (2023–2026)

• National Geographic Society Level 1 Funding (2022–2026)

• Summer Research Grant; UC Berkeley Department of Env. Science, Policy, and Management (2023, 2025)

• UC Berkeley Wildlife and Fisheries Program (2023)

• Oliver B. Lyman Wildlife and Fisheries Fund (2021)

• Property and Research Center Summer Fellowship (2021)

• Jubitz Family Endowment for Research Internships Fund (2017)

• Schiff Fund for Wildlife Habitat and the Environment (2017)

• Carpenter Sperry Research Fund (2017)

• Yale F&ES Summer Fund (2017)

• Frederic Clarke Morse & Estelle Klett Morse Endowed Scholarship (2015)