Matthew Selinske is a Senior Social Scientist at Mosaic Insights, a natural resources consultancy based in Australia. At Mosaic Insights, he works on a variety of conservation and environmental projects, specialising in understanding the motivations behind conservation behaviours and prioritising effective strategies for behaviour change. In addition to his role at Mosaic Insights, Matthew is the past President of the Society for Conservation Biology's Social Science Working Group, a Board Member of the Society for Conservation Biology, and an Adjunct Research Fellow at RMIT.
1) We always like to start by asking how you got into your field. Can you share what inspired your journey into this area of expertise?
My interest in conservation was sparked at a very young age. I was about seven years old, watching birds interact at a feeder in Minnesota, and I became fascinated. My passion for birds grew as I pored over field guides and, around the age of eight or nine, read A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold—a gift from my uncle that deeply influenced me.
I was lucky as my family nurtured my love for nature, taking me to the zoo, national parks, and on countless hiking and camping trips. By the time I was ten or eleven, I was already passionate about conservation issues—so much so that I wrote letters to the George H.W. Bush administration, voicing my concerns about its wetlands policies.
When I started university, I initially pursued biology, then considered political science, but ultimately found my place in conservation biology at the University of Minnesota. After earning my degree, I spent about a decade working in conservation—restoring habitats in Minnesota and engaging in conservation efforts abroad in West Africa. During this time, I became increasingly curious about what drives people to participate in conservation. Why do some people take action while others don’t? I understood my own motivations, but I wanted a broader framework to make sense of these behaviours.
This curiosity led me to Imperial College London, where I shifted my focus to the social sciences, specifically the psychology behind conservation behaviour. I conducted research in South Africa as part of my master's thesis and eventually pursued my PhD in Australia, where I examined how we can more systematically integrate human behaviour into conservation decision-making.
2) Your PhD research focused on human behaviour change in conservation. Can you elaborate on what your study was about and how this led to additional projects?
During my PhD, I explored which behaviours have the greatest impact on biodiversity and how different interventions—structural, technical, or psychological—can drive meaningful change.
After my PhD, I secured an Australian Research Council (ARC) linkage grant to study behaviour change within the coffee supply chain, a major industry in Melbourne. Unlike in the US, where initiatives like Bird-Friendly Coffee exist, there was little information here on biodiversity-friendly options. I collaborated with Zoos Victoria and behavioural scientists to explore interventions at multiple levels of the supply chain. A key focus was spillover behaviour—whether adopting one pro-environmental action, like drinking shade-grown coffee, could lead to bigger changes, such as future sustainable choices or even environmental advocacy.
3) What drew you to join the IUCN Behaviour Change Task Force, and how does your current work align with the mission and goals of the organisation?
I joined the IUCN Behaviour Change Task Force at its inception when Diogo contacted me. At the time, I was still a research fellow at RMIT, and my work aligned closely with behaviour change and the task force’s goals.
I think I bring a few different perspectives now compared to when I started, mainly because much of my work focuses on evaluating and reviewing strategies and policies that aim to influence individual behaviour but aren’t explicitly framed as behaviour change. Some of the work I do is more structural in nature, and I believe the task force should also be thinking about these broader structural changes—especially those that can ease the decision-making burden on individuals.
That said, I’m still very much involved in messaging, communication, and behaviour change interventions. Through my work, I engage with local and national governments, as well as NGOs, non-profits, and businesses, supporting efforts to implement strategies that drive meaningful change.
4) Could you tell us about any exciting projects or research you’re currently working on?
I can’t share too much detail since some of my work is client-based, but more broadly, I’m working on projects that focus on understanding public sentiment towards interventions and policies related to river systems.
One project in particular assesses how people perceive and discuss river systems, using both qualitative and automated sentiment analysis. Diogo has done some similar work in this area, and we’re analysing the most salient issues that come up in conversations about these ecosystems. It’s a really interesting way to explore public attitudes and concerns surrounding environmental policies.
5) What do you think is one of the biggest challenges in driving meaningful behaviour change towards conservation?
I think one of the biggest challenges is time—people are busy, and even those who care about conservation often struggle to prioritise sustainable behaviours in their daily lives. There’s also a lack of agency, meaning people don’t always understand what they can do or how to make a real impact. And even when they do, just having knowledge isn’t necessarily enough to change behaviour in a lasting way.
It’s really about making sustainable actions easier and more accessible. Social norms also play a big role—what’s considered appropriate or expected in society can either encourage or discourage conservation behaviours.
6) Who is someone in the conservation world (or beyond) that you look up to or that has influenced your career?
I would say my family played a huge role. They made sure I had the opportunity to spend time in nature, and that social element—being in nature together—was really important. It also allowed me to have my own individual experiences with nature, which became a big part of my life, especially through fishing and developing that relational connection with the natural world.
Beyond that, I was lucky enough to work with a primatologist, Janis Carter, in The Gambia. That experience exposed me to a completely unfamiliar context and was incredibly formative for me.
Throughout my academic career, I’ve also had three mentors who were really influential: EJ Milner-Gulland, Andrew Knight, and Sarah Bekessy. They’ve all played a big role in shaping my path, and I feel really fortunate to have had them as mentors. They gave me opportunities, collaborated with me, and treated me as a colleague rather than just a student, which meant a lot.
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