Dr. Christian J. Rivera is an Assistant Professor and the Principal Investigator of the Conservation Science and Urban Ecology Lab in the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Prior to joining the faculty at UMass Boston he was an Environmental Research and Teaching Fellow at the High Meadows Environmental Institute at Princeton University (2022-2025). He currently serves as an Associate Editor of the journal Human Dimensions of Wildlife and is a Visiting Scientist at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Dr. Rivera received his PhD from the University of Florida, MA from Columbia University, and BA from Princeton University. He is a conservation scientist with interdisciplinary training in the natural and social sciences and has broad interests in human-wildlife interactions, biocultural diversity, and conservation in human-dominated environments. His recent research integrates approaches in conservation biology, anthropology, and criminology to understand issues of wildlife use, consumption, and trade in urban social-ecological systems.
cj.rivera@umb.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida
Graduate Certificate, Tropical Conservation and Development, University of Florida
M.A. Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, Columbia University
B.A. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University
Undergraduate Certificates: East Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, Environmental Studies
Christian J. Rivera 